Down the Rabbit Hole
by fantasylover12001
Summary: ON HIATUS TILL 2010. See Profile for reason. SasuNaru, AU. Naruto Uzumaki lets his curiosity get the better of him and finds himself trapped in the spirit world, bound to serve a spirit by the name of Sasuke Uchiha. Full summary inside
1. Prologue: Down the Rabbit Hole

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

AUTHOR: fantasylover12001

RATING: R to NC-17

PAIRINGS: SasuNaru, KakaIru, and others, mentioned LeeSakura

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Also, to be on the safe side, a lot of the elements of this story were inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away which I obviously also do not own as I'm not currently filthy rich.

FULL SUMMARY: Independent artist, Naruto Uzumaki lets his curiosity get the better of him and finds himself trapped in the spirit world for a year. Bound to serve an arrogant spirit named Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto slowly finds himself warming to the strange world he's trapped in as he makes friends and starts to develop strong feelings for Uchiha as well. However, things are brewing in the spirit world and Naruto's new friends are smack in the middle of it. When the time comes, will he make the choice to leave like he is supposed too, or stay and help like he wants too?

AUTHORS NOTE: Yes, I know. I'm starting another fic when you all want me to work on updating Alliance. I will be working on that as well but I just really wanted to start a new story as well. Now, just in case you can't tell by reading this; the story was inspired by watching Spirited Away one too many times. However, this is not a movie fusion as I am going to be using my own plot devices and endings; but there are elements from the movie that you may recognize. I'm freely admitting it so no one can cry foul on me for stealing ideas. That said, I hope everyone enjoys the beginning of the fic.

PROLOGUE

The town was coming into view as he walked. A gust of wind blew by and Naruto Uzumaki shivered. Japan was having a strangely warm late October but the wind was still cold; especially on the open highway road that he was currently walking beside. A car honked obnoxiously at him as it sped by and he scowled at back of it and muttered, "Bastard." That honk had interrupted his favorite song on the iPod he was listening too. Why did drivers feel the need to honk at people who were on the sidewalk and out of their way? It was so annoying.

Although, now that he thought about it, he probably looked pretty strange walking on a highway. His blond hair and bright blue eyes probably didn't help either; they were probably thinking he was American and detested him just for that. His black and orange sweatshirt probably didn't help matters either. He probably could've waited for the taxis to arrive like everyone else on his broken down tourist bus had but Naruto just didn't see the point in waiting for an overpriced cab to charge him for a distance that he could've walked. Maybe the other passengers had money to spare but he was artist; that meant he watched every penny he spent.

Besides, this gave him a chance to get a lay of the land and town before the Halloween celebrations started to kick in later in the day. His friend, Sakura Haruno, had arranged the trip for him after his constant whining of lack of inspiration in the city. It wasn't the first time she had done so for him. The woman was an agent of sorts for artists and Naruto was one of her biggest clients as well as her best friend. If he didn't have art work for her to sell to interested clients then her business suffered. She had suggested going to the town after seeing a brochure for it and Naruto said yes right away. Not only could he maybe get new ideas for art but it would get him away from his friend for awhile too.

He loved Sakura, really he did, but she had the tendency to be a bit of a nag. Her latest nagging now included his love life, or lack there of. Ever since she had gotten married to Lee in the past year the woman seemed determined to find Naruto a boyfriend; preferably a permanent one. It had gotten so bad that she even set him up on a blind date; something he had yet to forgive her for.

'_It's not like I'm a monk or anything,_' he thought in annoyance. _'I go out! I have sex! Okay, they're only one night stands and I haven't in about a month, but still...where does she get the idea that I'm lonely?'_

He did admit that he sort of wanted a relationship like Sakura and Lee's...well maybe not exactly like theirs (the way they cooed at each other sometimes made him want to yak). But it was difficult finding someone who wanted a relationship with an artist who kept a crazy schedule; didn't make as much money as people thought; and had his little personality quirks as Sakura liked to refer to them as. Plus, he was picky about the guys he dated to begin with.

The town was now a few blocks away from the look of things and as Naruto got closer he noticed a gap in the thick forest that lined the highway. He paused and stared in surprise at the path that appeared there. It was narrow, but it was there.

'_Weird place for a path'_ he thought and eyed it curiously. Paths always led to interesting places in his experience. Especially the random ones like this. He glanced at the town and back at the opening which was practically begging him to explore it and then made his decision. _'The town's not going anywhere and I've got a few hours till dark._' With any luck, he could make a few sketches or get ideas for paintings.

The path turned out to be longer then he thought. It winded here and there through the thick forest which was a multitude of colors thanks to the fall season. Naruto had been about to turn around when it opened up to a small clearing in the forest. In the center of the clearing stood a large stone dragon sitting on a pedestal. The dragon's wings were spread out and it reared back on it's hind legs and bared it's fangs as if warding off someone.

Naruto stared at the statue and admired the craftsmanship. He had never really had a talent for sculpture or anything like that but he couldn't help but admire people who did. Especially when it was ancient looking work like the dragon. The blond rummaged through the blue duffel bag he carried with him and brought out his sketchbook and a pencil and sat sketching it for a few minutes.

When he was done, Naruto headed towards the late afternoon light that was filtering through the trees behind the statue. He squeezed through a small opening in the trees and then gaped at the sight before him. Instead of more trees or another clearing of sorts like he had been expecting the forest suddenly stopped and opened up to a large grassy field that circled around a large round hill. On the hill was what looked to be a small village with a wall around it and in the very back he could make out a tall tower of sorts. "Wow."

He made a mental note to bring his painting supplies here next time and walked towards the town. After hopping over the rocks that formed a strange looking circle around the town's wall, Naruto headed towards the large double doors he saw and pushed through them, to find that no one was there.

The blond frowned and looked around the street he was in. There was not a soul anywhere. It was like a ghost town or something. _'There's got to be someone here_' he thought as he wandered around.

"Hello!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

After shouting a few more times, he concluded that he was indeed the only one here. '_What the hell is this place anyway?_' he wondered, his mind whirling with all sorts of possibilities. Sometimes having an imagination like his wasn't always a good thing.

Wherever he was, the architecture was fascinating. He found himself getting caught up in drawing the colorful buildings instead of wondering where all the people were. The architecture was an odd mixture of styles, though Japanese was the chief style of course. Then there was the fact that they were all painted in a variety of styles including different motifs on the walls, as well as bright colors for the buildings. He spotted some buildings that were painted bright pink! It was as if someone had told the tenants to do whatever they wanted to the buildings without care for design. It delighted Naruto to no end because it meant none of the buildings were the same.

Soon he came to what looked to be the town square. It was starting to get really late but after spying a large road that seemed to lead somewhere, Naruto decided to look down there and then head back to the town. He could always come back tomorrow, the blond told himself. The road led to the back of the town and west to the tall tower like structure he had seen from the hill. It appeared to be on separate land from the rest of the town and was connected to it by a large bridge. Naruto got to the center of the bridge and looked down below it to the grassy field. Then he heard a loud gasp behind him and turned in surprise to stare at the most gorgeous guy he had ever seen.

All right, maybe that was an exaggeration, but the guy was still pretty hot. He was tall and broad-shouldered with dark black eyes and black hair that framed his face and stuck out in the back and made his pale skin look almost translucent. His clothes were a bit on the odd side though. A white kimono-like shirt hung loosely around his frame, showing off a well muscled smooth chest and held by a gray obi belt. Black pants hugged his legs and were rolled up to reveal comfortable looking black sandals.

After Naruto finished gawking at him (and mentally drooling), he finally noticed the katana sword that was strapped to his belt and the almost predatory way the man held himself and swallowed. He didn't even know the man's name but already he knew one thing: the guy was dangerous.

_ 'Okay, keep calm, Naruto'_ he thought, now looking warily at the man. _'Don't tick off the hot guy with the sword and you're okay.'_

"Um, hi!" he said and gave a wave. '_LAME, Uzumaki, LAME_.'

"How did you get in here?" the man said, staring at him in a way that made Naruto feel even more uncomfortable.

"Um...the door was open?" he said sheepishly. Feeling irritated with himself for thinking that even the man's voice was sexy. '_I really need to get laid_.' Obviously the fact that this man was effecting him so much was proof that he hadn't had sex for longer then he thought.

"You shouldn't be here," the man's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"What? Hey, it's a free country buddy," he said. '_Who does this guy think he is?'_

"Get out of here now before you're trapped!"

Naruto stared at him in bewilderment.

"GO!"

Realizing he wasn't going to get anywhere with the guy, Naruto shrugged. "All right, all right. I'm going. Don't have to be such a jerk about it." It was getting dark anyway.

He walked back to where he came from and glanced back at the bridge only to find that the guy had disappeared. "Weirdo," he muttered. '_Why is it always the hot guys who have issues?_'

When he reached the square, Naruto paused and then frowned. "Oh, no," he muttered. '_How do I get back to the entrance?!_' He had taken so many twists and turns that he didn't remember. '_Stupid, Naruto!_' He should've noted landmarks but he had been so caught up in his art that he hadn't paid attention to the way he was going. He glanced up to the sky and started to panic when he saw that the sun was starting to set. '_At this rate I'm going to be walking back in the dark!' _

He spotted the wall up ahead and then decided that he would head to the wall and run along it to find the entrance. As he ran, it started to get darker and when he glanced up a dark blob was starting to form. He dodged it and started to notice more on the way. _'What the hell are these things? Never mind, I don't want to know!_' Right now he was just going to concentrate on getting to the forest before dark. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt that it was imperative that he get out of there before the sun set.

Finally he saw the doors to the entrance and ran through them and down the hill only to be stopped by a large body of water. Naruto froze and stared in horror at what seemed to be a large lake surrounding the town where the field of grass had been earlier. He rubbed his eyes and opened them again to make sure he wasn't seeing things. No, it was still there. He gazed across it and could see the town that now looked further away then ever before all lit up in the dark.

'_Okay, no need to panic. Just because water appeared out of no where and there are strange blobs behind you is no reason to panic_' Naruto thought to himself. He started looking for a way to get across the water but after running along the shore for about an hour he finally gave up and sat heavily on the ground.

"I'm trapped," he said to himself in horror.

"I tried to tell you to get out while you could." He turned and saw the man from before, standing behind him and looking down at him with a frown.

He stared up at the man and then blurted out angrily, "Who are you? Where am I? What the hell is this?!"

The man sighed. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. You're in the spirit world and I'm afraid you are going to be stuck here for quite awhile."

Naruto stared up at him helplessly and thought, _'holy shit'_.

TO BE CONTINUED...

AUTHOR NOTES: Please review! Flames due to yaoi will not be accepted however.


	2. Chapter 1: The First Week

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

AUTHOR: fantasylover12001

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters. I also do not own any similar plot ideas to the brilliant movie Spirited Away (which has heavily inspired this fic).

PAIRINGS: SasuNaru, KakaIru, mentioned LeeSaku, and a handful of random pairings.

RATING: R to NC-17

AUTHOR NOTES: These chapters might be a little long people. Therefore there might be some longer breaks between updates. I apologize for the massive delay, my computer's hard drive went on the fritz and so I had to get a new one and do all the stuff that comes with getting a new drive. Fun...;rolls eyes; Alliance should be updated a little while after this so be on the lookout. Also, I believe I said this in the first part but evidently people don't read author notes: yes, this is heavily influenced by Spirited Away. But as you will be able to see from the following, it doesn't follow the same storyline and therefore will not be totally like it.

CHAPTER 1: THE FIRST WEEK

Sasuke studied the human in front of him with mild curiosity. It had been awhile since a human had wandered into their midst. On the whole, spirits tended to avoid the creatures, although you did get the odd one here and there who found them fascinating. He himself had no opinion on humans, but generally tended to avoid them because they had the tendency to cause him massive headaches, and he got enough of those from working under Lady Tsunade. In fact, it had been a few hundred years since he'd been face to face with a human, Sasuke recalled.

'_Were humans always this colorful?_' he wondered absentmindedly. No, he was pretty sure that the batch he remembered didn't have that bright yellow wild hair or the brilliant blue eyes. Actually, since he believed they had been monks of some sort, they hadn't had hair at all. They most certainly didn't wear the bright orange and black sweatshirt and black pants that this human wore. Nor did they carry around a bright blue bag with odd trinkets attached to the handles...oh, that was a frog. _'If he likes frogs, he should get along well with Jiraiya'_ he thought. But the oddest thing about the human were the whisker-like scars on the boy's cheeks. Not to mention that he had tan skin in a land that was known for people with pale skin. Sasuke would have thought he was a foreigner if it wasn't for his flawless Japanese accent.

The boy continued to stare up at him and Sasuke began to wonder if he had heard him and then he blurted out, "You're kidding, right?"

Sasuke frowned. "Do I look like I'm kidding?" Why on earth would he joke about something like that?

"Are you sure I'm trapped here? I mean, isn't there a boat or something that could take me across...there?" the human gestured towards the water as if he didn't know what to call it. Now that he thought about it, it was probably a bit disconcerting for the human to find bodies of water where they weren't before. The Disappearing Sea did that every time during sundown and sunrise so the spirits were rather used to it.

"Even if you were somehow able to get across the river, the barrier would stop you from entering the human world. How on earth were you able to get through the barrier in the first place?" Perhaps the human had some spiritual powers...that would explain it.

But the blond just stared at him in confusion. "What barrier?"

Sasuke stared at him. "You weren't stopped at all? Not even by the Guardian?" The ancient dragon was actually just a last resort, but he had been known to awaken from time to time.

The human frowned, "Guardian? You mean him?" He then fished through his bag and pulled out what looked to be a book and held it open. Sasuke leant over and peered at the page only to see a rough, but detailed sketch of the dragon guardian in his statue form. He blinked in surprise.

"Yes...did you do this?"

"Yup," the blond smiled. "I'm an artist."

'_That explains the bright colors' _Sasuke thought. "Hn. You better follow me."

"Why?"

'_Is he serious?_' "You'll need a place to stay here where you'll be safe. Working for Lady Tsunade is probably the best way to go. She's tough, but fair. Spirits respect her and therefore will not try to harm you if you're under her care." The smart ones wouldn't anyway; the stupid ones would be easy enough to deal with.

The blond frowned a bit, "Why would she help me? For that matter, why should I trust you? I don't even know you."

It was a fair question, Sasuke admitted. "Tsunade has sworn to protect everyone in this village. Now that includes you. As for me, I'm sworn to do my duty which is basically carrying out her will. Also, to be perfectly honest, do you have any better suggestions?"

The human bit his lip and shook his head. "Good. Now eat this." Sasuke pulled out an onigiri from his side pack; he had brought along some for a snack on his patrol. "If you don't eat it, you'll disappear. Literally."

Blue eyes wide, the blond quickly ate up the small rice ball. He then smiled at him, "That was pretty good. Oh, I'm Naruto, by the way. Naruto Uzumaki." He gave a short bow.

"Nice to meet you," Sasuke muttered. "This way."

'_A human in the spirit world. The council is going to love this_.' He had a feeling that there was going to a be a mountain of paperwork over this. '_Damn humans; always making a mess of things'_.

_**SasuNaru**_

_'How did I get myself into this situation?'_ Naruto thought to himself as he followed Sasuke who was leading them around the village's outer walls. '_From now on, no wandering around strange places._' He had learned his lesson. Sakura had always warned him that his curiosity and adventurous spirit would some day get the better of him. Now he would be hearing about it from her forever. If he ever saw her again.

He cast a sideways glance at his companion. "How long am I going to be stuck here?"

Dark eyes looked at him and Naruto suppressed a shiver. '_God, I'm acting like I've never seen a hot guy before! What the hell is wrong with me?_'

"The barrier only goes down once a year. You'll most likely won't be able to cross over into the human world until next Hallows Eve."

Naruto stopped walking and stared at him in dismay. "A WHOLE YEAR?! You said I would just be stuck here for a while!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "A year isn't that long."

"Yeah, for YOU. YOU'RE DEAD! Do have any idea how much things change in a year for humans? People get married! Have babies! Oh no, I'm going to miss Sakura's baby getting born! Not to mention the deadline for my art show in July! She's going to KILL ME."

Sasuke stared at him. "I don't know who this Sakura woman is, but she can hardly kill you for something beyond your control."

Naruto snorted at him. "OBVIOUSLY you don't know her or you wouldn't have bothered to say that."

The man frowned at him. "Let's move on."

Naruto fumed silently in his head, but followed him. '_No WAY am I getting stuck here for a year! I'll find my own way out if I have too!_"

It seemed to Naruto that they had circled the entire village when Sasuke finally led them to a stop. They were now directly under the bridge leading to the tall tower that Naruto had been on beforehand. Now though, instead of rocks, there was water under it and it went out beyond the village too, as far as the eye could see. Over the water in front of them Naruto saw what looked to be stairs at the bottom of the square tower that started from the water and lead up to what looked to be surrounding walled gardens.

Sasuke held out his arm to Naruto and the blond looked at him in confusion.

He sighed impatiently. "I assume humans can still not do magic?"

Naruto stared up at him incrediously. "Hell, no! What, you can?" Honestly, it wouldn't really surprise him. After all, spirits apparently existed, who was to say magic didn't?

"Hn." Sasuke then just gripped his bicep and pulled him closer. Before Naruto could comment on personal space, he was dragged onto the water and to his surprise, neither of them sunk but instead stood on it.

"Holy crap," he muttered, looking down as Sasuke led him forward in astonishment and awe. '_I'm walking on water!_' Then as he watched the fish swim under his feet he thought that this would make a great painting. His imagination worked at the oddest times.

The minute they reached the bottom of the stairs, Sasuke let go of him and headed up to the door at the top. As Naruto suspected, they led to gardens. Beautiful, old-fashioned looking, landscaped gardens. Seemingly used to the gardens, Sasuke led him to the back of the tower to one of the many doors that led into the tower. This one opened to a single room that had a gray marble floor and a vaulted ceiling leading to an old-fashion looking elevator decorated in red and gold with a strange spiral symbol painted on the doors. Sasuke pulled the gold lever and the doors opened up and they got on.

After reaching what seemed to be the top floor, the doors opened (behind them, Naruto noticed) up to a large foyer decked out in the same gray marble floor which had the same spiral symbol embedded on the floor in white marble. There were large double doors in gold directly in front of them as well as about six other doors on either side of them leading elsewhere. In between the doors were white marble pilaster columns in a decadent Corinthian style.

Naruto would have stayed to admire the craftsmanship but Sasuke quickly led him to the first door on their right which led them down a hall with other doors. He was led to the end of the hall to a large gold door on which Sasuke knocked.

"Come in, Sasuke," a woman's voice came from inside.

The blond glanced at the man apprehensively and noted that he didn't seem at all disturbed by the fact that the woman on the other side knew it was him before he even said anything. 'Maybe it's a spirit thing'.

They entered what looked to be an office. There were dark wood floors and open screen doors on their right that lead to what looked to be a porch and gave a view of the now vast ocean behind the tower. To their left was a marble fireplace with two red plush armchairs in front of it. A little further in front of them was a large desk with two smaller red arm chairs in front of it. Behind the desk sat a young blond woman with amber eyes who was studying him intently. Standing next to her was a tall man with wild long white hair and dark eyes, also eyeing him as well as another gray haired man who had one eye covered and his face half covered by a mask. He also couldn't help but noticed that they all gave off the dangerous vibe that Sasuke did and his nervousness increased.

"So, I take it this is our wayward human?" the woman said, as he sat down.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," Sasuke answered from behind him.

Naruto blinked in surprise. SHE was Lady Tsunade? He eyed her doubtfully. She hardly looked like a lady to him, most of the rich woman he encountered didn't wear tunics and pants, nor have ample breasts like this woman. Plus, she looked a little young to be in charge of anything, let alone a village.

As if reading his thoughts, the woman scowled, "Do you have a problem, brat?"

Recognizing the danger signs (he had been Sakura's best friend for years after all), Naruto hurriedly shook his head. The woman smirked, "This one's smarter then he looks." Then she got serious. "What is your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"Hm. So, Naruto, how exactly did you find your way to Konoha?"

"Konoha?" He asked in confusion.

"The village, Idiot," Sasuke said impatiently from behind him. Naruto glared at him from over his shoulder and then told of how he got there. When he got to the part of the dragon statue he noticed that they all looked at each other with a frown when he said he just sketched it for awhile and moved on.

"Was something to supposed to happen?" He asked curiously.

Tsunade hesitated. "Yes. Even with the barrier down, the Guardian should have woken and stopped you. It would have taken your memory of the place and you would have woken up at the beginning of the path again. It's how we ensure humans don't wander in here in the first place."

"Oh. Then why didn't it awaken?"

"Good question. Continue please."

He did and when he got to the part where he encountered Sasuke the three of them suddenly smirked at the man in question. The gray haired one said, "Sasuke, helping a stranger? That's unlike you."

Naruto blinked and glanced back at the man who was scowling. "Shut up, Kakashi."

The white haired man chuckled, "Kakashi, you need to teach your subordinate manners."

Kakashi shrugged helplessly, "Believe me, Jiraiya, I've tried. The boy is stubborn."

"Must be an Uchiha thing."

"Actually, I think it's more of a Sasuke thing."

"I'm right here, you know," Sasuke said with gritted teeth.

"Can we move on, please gentlemen?" Tsunade asked, massaging her forehead with her fingers. The three of them automatically fell silent. She then looked at Naruto, "Well, we can't do anything about it now. The human is here. So now the question is, where should we put him?"

Naruto felt apprehension immediately. "What do you mean?"

"I do not tolerate layabouts in this village. You need work until next Hallow's Eve. Sasuke did tell you that you'd be staying here for a year?"

"I was hoping he was wrong," Naruto muttered.

"Well, I'm afraid he wasn't. As I'm sure he also mentioned, this is probably the best place for you to stay." Then she paused as if the thought just occurred to her. "Do you have anyone that will be worrying about you in the human world?"

Naruto shrugged. "Just Sakura and Lee probably. They're my friends."

The woman frowned. "What about family?"

"I'm an orphan."

"Lover?"

Naruto snorted. "Please. Unless you count Sai."

"Sai?"

"Colleague in the art world. He has a thing for me and can't take a hint that I'm not interested. He might wonder where I am but then he'll move on to the next hot guy he sees." Sai didn't have a long attention span, it was one of the reasons he didn't have serious relationships, that and he had social problems that made Naruto look normal.

Tsunade looked at him with new interest. "You're gay?"

Naruto scowled. "You have a problem with it?"

The woman snorted. "Hardly. You'll fine a vast majority of the spirit world doesn't really care about sexuality one way or the other. We're dead after all, what difference would the gender of our lovers make?"

It was a good point, Naruto thought.

Tsunade suddenly smirked and Naruto felt apprehension come back to him. That smirk was too similar to Sakura's when she was plotting something.

"Sasuke," She said suddenly. "How about you?"

Naruto looked at him in confusion and the man in question frowned. "I beg your pardon?"

"You could use an assistant, couldn't you? Someone to run errands for you, keep track of your schedule and such?"

Seeing where this was going, Sasuke frowned further, "Lady Tsunade, with all due respect, I'm not so sure that's the best idea."

"But you could use one, yes?" Judging from her smile, Naruto had a feeling she wasn't taking no for an answer. Obviously, Sasuke realized this as well.

"I suppose."

"Very well, then. He'll be staying with you from now on until he leaves. We also might borrow him for odd jobs here and there."

"Yes, Ma'am," Sasuke said, looking resigned to his fate.

"Good. In the meantime, he will be taking lessons from Iruka Umino about our world. That way he understands just exactly what not to say and do. Besides, I'm sure Iruka would like to talk to a fellow human for a change," She glanced at Kakashi as she said this.

"Yes, I'm sure he would," Kakashi said, with some fondness in his voice.

Naruto stared at them. "Wait, there's another human here?"

Tsunade smiled. "Yes. He wandered into our midst about the same way you did a few years ago. But he decided to stay because he felt more at home here then in his own world. Technically, he is a spirit now, but we tend to call him human out of habit."

"Oh." Well, at least he wouldn't be completely on his own here, Naruto thought.

"Well, now that that's taken care of, you must be tired. Sasuke, why don't you show him where he'll be staying?"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted. He stood beside Naruto and looked down at him. The blond had to once again suppress a shiver. "Let's go."

Naruto slowly nodded. He wasn't really tired, but he had a feeling voicing his opinion wouldn't help here. Already, he could tell the woman had Sakura's temperament, and she had certainly never listened to anything he had to say. So he got up, gave a short bow to the group and followed Sasuke out of the room.

Sasuke led him to the elevator again and they went down one or two floors to another level. This time the doors opened to an entry much like the first but on a smaller scale and there were only two doors, one that led to right, and one to the left. Sasuke turned to the one on the right and brought out a key to open it.

"These are my quarters," the man said suddenly and Naruto jumped a bit because he'd been silent the whole way. "I'll have a key made for you tomorrow, otherwise you won't be able to get in without me. The other door leads to Kakashi's quarters in case you need him for something."

"Oh. Hey, how come he covers his bottom face?" Naruto asked. It had been bugging him since he saw the man.

Sasuke shrugged. "Never asked."

"Oh." Naruto stared at him in surprise. If he had been working with Kakashi like this guy seemed to, that would've been the first question out of his mouth.

They entered the door and Naruto found himself in a spacious living area. There was a marble fireplace to the immediate right, with a dark blue sofa and matching armchairs in front of it, surrounding a low coffee table. Across the room's entrance were screened doors leading to an outside balcony. There were then three doors on the left wall and next to the door was a shelf unit that seemed to hold various weapons.

"I'm afraid I don't have a guest room for you to sleep in, so you'll have to sleep on the fold up futon in here."

"That's okay," Naruto said.

Sasuke opened the door in the middle of the wall and it turned out to be a small closet. He pulled out a futon for Naruto and handed the blond some sheets for it. "The first door there leads to the kitchen. The second leads to the bathroom. Now, if you'll excuse me." He started to head out and Naruto blinked.

"Aren't you going to sleep?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "No. I'm technically still on patrol and I have things that need to be taken care of. You get some sleep. Our days are night in the human world, therefore your body will need to adjust to it."

Naruto watched him leave and sank down onto the mattress.

"Now what?" he muttered helplessly.

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

It was midday when Sasuke finally returned to his quarters. By the time his patrol was over and he changed places with Shikamaru all of Konoha had heard there was a human that would be staying with them. Needless to say, everyone had an opinion on this. The noble clans didn't want the human there. Period. Others were curious about how the human had gotten in the town in the first place and so were voicing complaint to Tsunade. Then there were those eager to meet the human.

Even after that, he had to go and get a key made up for the human (Naruto, he reminded himself). Then he had to set up an appointment with Ino at the clothing store in order to get the blond some proper clothes. The blond woman was all to eager to meet the boy. To her, humans were just fun. Sasuke really didn't understand her fascination with them at all, but then there were a lot of things he didn't understand about Ino. He blamed it on her being a woman.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he finally got to his floor but later froze when he opened the door. The human was no where in sight. The bed was still unfolded and the sheets showed that someone tried to sleep on it but he was no where in sight. Getting a bad feeling, Sasuke headed to his kitchen. Not there. He opened the door leading to his study. Not there either. Then he went to his bedroom. Gone.

"Damn humans!" he said irritably and then immediately left the floor.

He searched the entire building quickly as he could to make sure the blond wasn't just being curious and wandering around. But after a few minutes it was obvious he was no longer in the building. When he got to the bridge he ran into Shikamaru who looked at him in amusement.

"Lost something, Uchiha?"

Sasuke stopped on his tracks. "Where is he?"

"If you mean the human, he headed out of the village just a few minutes ago. Kiba said he was headed towards the forest."

Sasuke scowled. "Why didn't any of you stop him?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "He looks like a stubborn sort. Besides, it's not like he has anywhere to go but back here."

"More like you just didn't want to interrupt your cloud watching time," Sasuke muttered.

"That too," the pony-tail haired man nodded.

Sasuke threw him one last glare as he took off for the entrance of the village. If Shikamaru wasn't a brilliant strategist and a valuable asset to the village, Sasuke would have strangled the lazy bum ages ago.

After running to middle of the field Sasuke paused and looked around. Sure enough, there was the blond sitting dejectedly in front of the forest. He cautiously walked up to the human and paused a few paces. "Satisfied?" he asked.

Naruto jumped and looked up at him. "Don't DO that!"

Sasuke just looked at him. "Are you satisfied?"

The blond pouted at him and looked down. "Yeah. I've tried everything I can think of, but every time I go through the trees like I did before, I just end up back here. I really am stuck here, aren't I?"

"Yes."

"Sorry. I just had to make sure for myself, you know?" Naruto got up and picked up his bag and looked at him warily. "I'm not going to get in trouble for this, am I?"

Sasuke severely wanted to say yes, just for the fact that the blond made him put off his sleep longer. But Tsunade wouldn't have stood for it. "No."

As if reading his mind, Naruto grinned sheepishly at him. "Sorry for making you come after me."

Somewhat taken aback, Sasuke shrugged and started back towards the village.

As they walked, Naruto glanced around the field. "So, this thing is normal during the day but becomes an ocean at night?"

"Yes."

"What's up with that?"

"What do you mean?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I mean why does it do that? Or is that some big spirit secret or something?"

"No one knows why it does that. It just...does."

"Right," Naruto muttered. "So I'm guessing you all don't know why there are spirits either?"

Sasuke glanced back at him. "Do you know why there are humans?"

Naruto blinked. "No. People have theories but why we exist, but no one knows for sure."

"Then why should we know why spirits exist?"

The blond frowned at him and closed his mouth. Sasuke couldn't help but feel a bit triumphant at that. Something told him that this particular human was not used to being silent or not knowing what to say.

As they got to the entrance of the village they were stopped by a large dog that suddenly barreled onto Naruto and started licking him happily.

"Akamaru, stop that! You'll scare the poor human half to death!" Sasuke looked up and saw the dog's owner, Kiba walking towards them, dressed in the black and white uniform of the shinobi. "Hey, Uchiha."

Sasuke nodded to him and glanced at the dog that was reluctantly getting off a stunned Naruto who was now sitting on the ground. Kiba grinned at him. "Sorry about that. Guess Akamaru smelled something on you that he liked."

Naruto got up. "It's okay but dude, what have you been feeding that dog?"

Kiba looked at him in confusion. "Uh...dog food?"

The blond stared at him. "Are you sure? He's HUGE."

Kiba looked at Sasuke who shrugged at him. "Dogs aren't that big where you're from?"

Naruto shook his head. "No way."

"Huh. Oh, I'm Kiba."

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"Nice to meet you." He was clearly about to ask more about dogs in the human world but Sasuke glared at him. "Uh...I better get back to patrol. We'll talk later, okay?"

Naruto nodded and patted Akamaru as the two left. He glanced curiously at Sasuke, "Hey, if you've got guards here, why wasn't I stopped sooner when I first entered the village?"

Sasuke scowled. "You came in during the change of the guard. Apparently there was a block of time that left the entrance unchecked. Kakashi and I've remedied the situation so that the entrance is watched at all times now."

"Oh. Is that what you were doing earlier?"

"Among other things."

The blond frowned. "You're not much of a talker, are you?"

"No."

"Great," Naruto muttered sarcastically.

Sasuke headed towards the tower again and Naruto followed him. As they rode the elevator up, Sasuke silently handed Naruto the key to his quarters that he had made which Naruto took after remembering what it was for.

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

When the sun set, Naruto watched from the balcony as spirits slowly emerged from their houses in the village. The balcony was facing the side of the village so he while looking from the window, he saw the sea that now appeared, but if he turned to his left, he saw a majority of the village itself and the forest and town in the distance.

Sasuke woke up a little bit after the sun fell and proceeded to make food. Naruto wanted to ask him if he had any ramen but had a feeling it wouldn't go over well with the rather grumpy man. Plus, he had looked in the cabinets in the kitchen anyway and hadn't found any packages or noodles. Still, he had to admit, Sasuke was a pretty good cook. It almost made up for the fact that the man was a lousy conversationalist.

After that, Sasuke led him into the village to meet with a clothes maker named Ino who was a tall busty woman with long blond hair. She greeted him enthusiastically and immediately set about taking his measurements.

"Oh, your coloring is wonderful! I don't get many blonds except for myself of course. Oh, you'll look wonderful in blues! I got this new line of fabric in that will make those gorgeous eyes of yours glow!"

Naruto blushed. "My eyes aren't gorgeous."

Ino snorted at him. "What? Sasuke, aren't his eyes beautiful?" She looked at the man leaning against the wall for help. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her and glanced at Naruto. They stared at each other and Naruto felt his heart start to pound for some odd reason.

"They're all right." Sasuke said gruffly, and looked away quickly.

Naruto felt oddly disappointed with that but Ino rolled her eyes. "That's Uchiha speak for he agrees with me."

They continued with the measuring and Naruto picked out one or two outfits to get him through the three days or so it would take Ino to make the first few cloths he would need. He ended up leaving the store dressed in a light blue tunic and black pants and after a brief stop at the shoemakers shop, he got sandals as well. During the shopping trip, Sasuke gave him the basic layout of the village which actually wasn't that difficult, once one learned it. As he figured out during his wanderings, there was a town square that was in the center of it. The four roads intersecting to it led to the one main road that circled the village wall. This divided the town into four districts which were name North District, South District, East District, and West District and were pretty much located in those general directions.

As he was warned, not all the spirits were warm to him. As he and Sasuke walked, he couldn't help but notice a lot of wary looks being cast in his direction as well as some downright hostile ones. So, he wisely decided to stick close to Sasuke. It actually wasn't that hard. The man might be a horrible conversationalist but that aspect also made him kind of interesting. Naruto soon found it fun to try and get him to talk, or at the very least show some emotion. Something about having those dark eyes focus on him was starting to become addicting. It may have been less then a day, but Naruto recognized the danger signs of attraction. He wondered how pathetic one had to be when they started to fall for a dead guy.

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

The next night Sasuke came home and found his apartment was rearranged In the past few hours, Sasuke had learned a few things already about his human companion: he was stubborn, talked too much and often lacked tact, he also got easily bored and that was dangerous. Because when he got bored he decided to annoy Sasuke. The other night, he had asked Sasuke and endless parade of questions about the most ridiculous things and it was about halfway through when Sasuke realized he was just asking them because he had figured out that lots of questions annoyed him. It was then he realized that despite appearances, the blond actually was a bit clever.

That night he had several meetings with Tsunade and a patrol to do so he had left Naruto on his own. Judging from the state of things, this was a bad idea. The living room was the first clue that something was different. His sofa was no longer facing the fireplace but directly faced the screened doors so one could look outside as they sat. His chairs were then placed where the sofa used to be. His weapons shelf had also been rearranged, he noticed with distaste. There were also now several sketches tacked onto his previously blank walls. They seemed to be landscapes, several were views of the village. They actually were pretty good, he had to admit.

He glanced in the bathroom and noted that nothing had changed, other then one or two more color sketches added to the walls. His kitchen also had art added to the wall and refrigerator. His study, had the blond himself resting on the navy blue sofa in there. Sasuke noticed he had yet to add art to these walls with somewhat relief, and after a quick check saw that his bedroom and bathroom had been left alone.

Sasuke walked up to the sleeping blond and nudged him. Blue eyes fluttered open and the blond grinned. "Hey! Welcome back!"

"What did you do to my apartment?" Sasuke asked bluntly.

Naruto shrugged. "Hey, you left me all alone here! So I drew! Then I noticed you have like no art in this place so I decided to give it some color. Good thing most of my art supplies were in my bag and not my suitcase. You like them?"

Sasuke was about to say no out of spite but he made the mistake of actually looking at Naruto and just couldn't bring himself to disappoint those hopeful eyes. "They're fine," he muttered. "But did you have to go through my weapon drawer?"

"Oh, that. I did that before I remembered I had my art supplies. Sorry."

"Hn." Sasuke made a mental note to lock up the drawers next time he left Naruto on his own.

IF he let stay Naruto here on his own again. Heaven knew what he'd come home too if he did it again.

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

Naruto had no idea what to make of Iruka Umino but he found himself liking the man when he met him the next night. Kakashi had led him down to the lower levels of the tower where the man lived and worked and the two of them sat in on the last of his class which consisted of younger or newly made spirits. According to Kakashi, Iruka had been a teacher before he got trapped in the spirit world. That was something Naruto could have figured out on his own though, the man just had that certain air about him that some teachers did. Plus, when he looked at Naruto the first time he felt immediately like he was back in high school, particularly after the disapproving look he got when Kakashi told him about how Naruto wandered into the village in the first place.

Iruka was fairly young, he noted. He looked to be in his late twenties/early thirties and was a bit attractive with his long dark brown hair that was held in a ponytail and warm dark brown eyes. There was also something awfully intriguing about that scar that slashed across his nose. He wasn't Naruto's type and it was probably a good thing because about halfway through Kakashi's introductions and after watching the two interact, he realized that Iruka would give the gray-haired man adoring looks when ever the man wasn't looking.

"So how long have you liked Kakashi?" Naruto asked bluntly when the two were left alone.

Iruka blinked. "I beg your pardon? Who said I liked him?"

The blond smirked and Iruka sighed. "It's that obvious?"

"Kind of. Does he know?"

"No," and Iruka looked at him severely. "You aren't to say anything either."

Naruto shrugged. It was hardly his business anyway. "So, were you really a human like me when you got here?"

"Yes. That was a long time ago, though. I've been here so long, I'm a full fledged spirit now. "You'll find that the longer you stay in this world, the more you start to pick up some of the abilities of the spirits."

"Abilities?" Naruto asked. He hadn't noticed any abilities from any of them.

"Yes. Chakra use, for one. You'll probably gain that ability in a few months yourself, depending on how adaptable to the place your body is."

Naruto stared at him. "What's Chakra?"

"Sasuke hasn't explained it to you?" Iruka asked in surprise.

The blond snorted. "Sasuke doesn't talk much in case you haven't noticed."

Iruka smiled a bit. "Yes, I've noticed that. Well, then I suppose our first few lessons will have to go over the abilities of spirits. You should know exactly what your up against after all."

That night, was just spent talking. Naruto learned about the village mostly and what it was for. Apparently, Konoha was on the edge of the spirit world and used as a headquarters of sorts for meetings between spirits as well as where new spirits were integrated into the society. Iruka himself taught these young spirits as well as the children of spirits which is what he was doing earlier. There were all sorts of different types of spirits. There were human-like one such as Sasuke and the majority of the people in the village who were the most common. There were also animal spirits, plant spirits, even air spirits. Naruto's head started to spin when he realized just how many there had to be.

Out of curiosity he asked Iruka, "Just how old are you anyway?"

Iruka smirked. "Counting my human years before and how long I've been here?"

Warily, Naruto nodded.

"Well, I was twenty-seven when I wandered in here so add that to the time I've spent here I am one hundred and thirty."

The blond stared at him. "Lady Tsunade said you've only been here a few years though!"

Iruka sighed. "Yes, well time passes differently for spirits since they can live so long. A couple of years can seem like a month or so to a spirit. So to her, I've only been here a few short years."

"Oh." Vaguely, Naruto wondered how old Sasuke was and decided it would be safer for his head if he didn't ask.

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

The first batch of his new clothes arrived for him the next night and Naruto happily tried every single piece of clothing on. There were five tunics in different shades of blue and some with different designs along the hems of the edges. There were also two extra pairs of dark black pants and a dove gray pair as well as three different obi belts to go with the outfits. There was a letter from Ino in the package saying she was going to be sending him some formal wear next but it would take awhile longer. When Sasuke came home he asked what the formal wear was for and the man replied that he would see. Naruto stuck out his tongue at him and went back to trying his clothes.

When he tried on a dark blue tunic with a black Greek fret key along the edges with black pants and a gray obi belt with a matching black fret design on it he felt Sasuke eye him from his place on the sofa even though the man was pretending to read a book.

"What do you think?" Naruto asked him with a grin, and twirled around so Sasuke could see the whole effect of the outfit.

Sasuke put down his book and looked at Naruto up and down for a few seconds. He saw Naruto look at him expectantly and shrugged. "You'll do." He then went back to his book.

That was when Naruto decided that before he left, he was going to get a smile out of that stoic man one way or another.

TO BE CONTINUED...

AUTHOR NOTES: Please review, but before you do, LOOK AT AUTHOR NOTES ABOVE because I've probably already answered one or two questions you might have.


	3. Chapter 2: November

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

AUTHOR: fantasylover12001

RATING: R to NC-17

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto, yadda yadda. I also do not own any plot ideas/scenes from the movie Spirited Away from which this is heavily influenced by.

PAIRINGS: eventual SasuNaruSasu, KakaIru, mentioned LeeSaku and other random pairings

AUTHOR NOTES: Well, like I said...these updates will take awhile as the chapters are somewhat longer then what I'm used to writing (I average about seven to ten pages a chapter these are at least fifteen pages long). But hey, all the more fun right? So once again, do not bug me about when the next update will be because I honestly can't say.

CHAPTER 2: NOVEMBER

The next week or so began what Naruto soon realized would be a daily routine. First, he would wake up and pull on his clothes. Sasuke would usually be up before him and could be found in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Naruto would sit down at the small round table in the kitchen and Sasuke would silently sit a plate or bowl of whatever the man had decided to make that morning. Whatever it was, the man was a surprisedly good cook. The two would then sit and eat. During this time Naruto would try and engage Sasuke in conversation but it usually ended up with him carrying on a one-sided babble fest. So far his attempts to make Sasuke smile had failed miserably.

After breakfast Sasuke would disappear to do...whatever it was the man did during the day. Naruto wasn't sure on the details to be honest. As for Naruto himself, he would spend the day either drawing or exploring the large and very tall tower that was his new home for now. He found so much to draw and ideas for art that he was rather afraid he was going to go through the pencils in his bag and the three sketch books he had with him.

Then around midnight (or midday, he was still getting used to the fact that nights were considered days here) he would head down to Iruka's classroom. He would wait till the man was finished and then the two would have their lesson. This was when Naruto learned about the world around him. He learned about what to do and not do around the spirits that came to visit Konoha frequently. There were so many different ways that one could offend all the different spirits that Naruto decided that it would be in his best interested to just keep his mouth shut. It would be difficult but it was better then either being protected by Sasuke or getting eaten by an angry spirit.

It was during these lessons that Naruto and Iruka became fast friends. True, the man was older but he understood where Naruto was coming from, having been in the same situation himself. The two found humor in their observations of the spirits. Iruka was also happy to hear about what changes had taken place in the human world while he'd been gone. Having lived over a hundred years ago, Iruka found the technology Naruto described to him fascinating.

"It's almost as if humans can do magic now!" he once said as Naruto tried to explain what the computer and internet were.

While the spirits who were in the tower frequently grew used to his presence, Naruto didn't dare venture to the village on his own. It wasn't that he was scared, technically. It was that he couldn't forget the hostile looks he had gotten on his last trip there and so decided to be cautious around the rest of the villagers until they also grew used to him. It wasn't as if he needed to leave anyway, everything he needed was in the tower.

Just above the ground floor was a large cafeteria-like place where all the residents or visitors could eat. Above that, was a huge library that took up the next three floors with seemingly any type of book imaginable and in several languages. Plus, it was just downright fascinating to watch the residents themselves.

From what Naruto could tell (and from what he managed to squeeze out of Sasuke and Iruka; well mostly Iruka) the building was like a government office building. Lady Tsunade was evidently in charge of the whole village and dealt with it's politics and protection. He often saw her in the hallways followed by a woman named Shizune who Naruto learned was her bodyguard.

The other people that lived in the building were the villagers protectors, called Shinobi and this was what Sasuke, Kakashi, and the white haired man Jiraiya did. From what he learned, Jiraiya was head of all the Shinobi in the village. Kakashi was second in command to him, while Sasuke was third. According to Iruka, these three men were some of the hardest working men in the village and Naruto believed it. Often, Sasuke would come back just before the sun rose and he always looked exhausted.

This was what prompted Naruto to get back to the apartment early and make dinner for the two of them. Contrary to what Sakura and Lee had thought, he knew how to make more then just Ramen. Ramen just happened to be his favorite food so he made it the most often. Cooking the dinners made him feel at least a little helpful somehow. He wouldn't be able to officially start his duties until two or three weeks when he had more lessons and knowledge under his belt. Until then, he was basically laying around and feeling like a mooch.

Sasuke and Iruka were not the only people that Naruto got to know. Kakashi would check up on him in the mornings (he suspected as a request from Sasuke but he never confirmed it) and though the man was slightly perverted, Naruto couldn't help but like his laid back attitude. Though wondering what was under the mask on his face drew him crazy sometimes. Once every other day, Sasuke would come home with a man named Shikamaru, who always wore a slightly bored expression on his face and had dark brown hair that was pulled into a spiky ponytail and dark brown eyes. It was apparently a ritual for the two of them to sit in the living room and play games of either Shogi or Go. Despite his lazy nature, Shikamaru usually won which surprised Naruto.

Naruto also became friends with Kiba, the man with the giant dog he had met earlier, when the two shared lunch in the cafeteria. This also meant he became friends with Kiba's friends who also ate with them later on. First was Chouji, a large light brown haired man who constantly ate but was friendly and at times painfully blunt. There was also Shino, a strange man with spiky dark black hair, sunglasses that never came off, and who wore high necked shirts in a similar fashion to Kakashi but talked even less then Sasuke did (which Naruto didn't think was possible, but there it was). Lastly, was Hinata, a girl with short blue hair and strange white eyes who was painfully shy and stuttered a lot. Naruto couldn't help but wonder how on earth she managed to get together with Kiba who was even louder then he could be. Still, he liked her. He liked them all actually, even with their strange habits and quirks (how on earth did Shino's glasses ALWAYS STAY ON, he personally suspected magic). By the time he had been there two weeks, Naruto realized he liked it in this odd world he was thrown in.

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

Daily patrols were quite possibly the most boring thing about being a Shinobi, Sasuke thought as he opened the door to his apartment. But they were a necessity, as evidenced by the human currently staying with him. Speaking of whom...Sasuke frowned and looked around the living room warily. Naruto wasn't there as usual. His futon was out, and a few books lay on them but the person was no where.

He went into the kitchen and frowned further when Naruto wasn't there either. There was a bowl of pasta ready and waiting to be heated up however. He glanced at it and then opened the door to his small library and found Naruto sitting at his desk, fast asleep with his head buried in his arms on top an open sketchbook.

Sasuke shook his head and then decided to let the blond be for the moment. He went back into the kitchen and after a well placed heating spell, ate his food. After he was done he went back to the library and after a moment's hesitation, gently picked up the sleeping blond. For a full grown male, the blond was rather light. Then Sasuke smirked; of course the blond was also small for his age as well. Not that any of them mentioned it; they realized after the first few times that Naruto was rather sensitive about his size when he took his anger out on the first unfortunate soul who commented on it. Kiba claimed that he still felt that punch even though it had been more then a week ago.

Naruto shifted and Sasuke paused in his walk to the door, but the blond only moved his head so it was tucked under Sasuke's chin, which caused him to tense. He couldn't remember the last time a person was physically this close to him. Not that people didn't try, he just generally avoided being touched. Unlike the rest of the spirit world he did not indulge in sex freely. His kind generally stuck with one mate throughout their afterlife and he had yet to find someone he would even consider mating with.

Besides, right now with his duties and a certain person to kill, a mate would be (in Shikamaru's words) troublesome. Having someone to worry about and protect would just invite more hassle. It was bad enough that Tsunade had stuck him with this human to take care of; Sasuke frowned down at the bundle in his arms as he thought that.

With a bit of maneuvering, he managed to get Naruto onto the futon. Naruto had slept through the entire process. In fact he had started to snore by the time they reached the living room. Sasuke rolled his eyes at that and went back his desk because he was somewhat curious on what Naruto had been working on. The blond was forever scribbling pictures in his sketch books and he couldn't help but wonder what it was the blond drew. So he picked up the book on his desk and went to the start and stared at the first picture. It was a realistic sketch of a man and woman that Sasuke had never seen before. The man wasn't the most attractive person in the world with round dark eyes and a odd bowl cut but he had a mega watt grin on as he held a small woman in his arms with short hair. Below the picture in the blond's messy writing was the message: '_**Lee and Sakura. They just told me they're having a baby! I'm going to be a godfather!**_'

_'So these are the friends he keeps mentioning'_ he thought. Then he couldn't help but be puzzled over why the blond was so afraid of a small woman and then shrugged. The next few pages were several small rough sketches of what looked to be random people in a city. Then there were a few people sitting on what looked to be a transport of some kind. He believed the humans called them buses.

Then came the sketches from Konoha. There was the sketch of the dragon guardian, several rough doodles of the buildings on the main road. Then came the ones of the villagers themselves which included messy messages as well. There was one of Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Chouji, Shikamaru, Kakashi, and even Tsunade looking annoyed as Shizune lectured her in the halls. The notes Naruto wrote were interesting because they seemed to include Naruto's thoughts on the event or person taking place. For instance next to the sketches of Shino was the question "_**How do his glasses always stay on?**_" By Kakashi's portrait in bold letters was the message: "_**Find out what is hidden behind his mask!**_" Sasuke snorted at that. He had known Kakashi for almost two hundred years now and had yet to see what the rest of his face looked like.

Then came other random villagers and moments as well as sketches of...himself. There were quite a lot of sketches of himself actually. Naruto didn't have many messages by his sketches aside from one by the first portrait which said '_**How come Sasuke never smiles?**_' He frowned at that and closed the sketchbook. For a few minutes he looked down at the sleeping Naruto and then just left the sketchbook by his bed.

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

The days continued normally until the end of Naruto's second week when in the morning he got a message from Tsunade to come up to her office. Wondering if he had done something that he was not aware of, Naruto rode the elevator up to her office. When he got there, both she and Shizune were there and looked at him when he entered. "Come in, Naruto. Would you like some tea?"

"Sure," Naruto said as he sat in one of the red plush armchairs. He was normally more of a Ramune kind of guy but he wasn't about to refuse a woman who just yesterday punched Jiraiya through a wall in front of everyone. According to Iruka this was a normal occurrence, the two always argued, but it was still a pretty vivid image and only reaffirmed his opinion that he should not piss this woman off.

So he took the cup of tea that Shizune offered him and sipped at it, eyeing the woman in front of him warily. "So...you asked me up here for something?"

"No need to look so nervous, Naruto. You're not in trouble," Tsunade said with a smirk. Naruto realized that she knew how uncomfortable he was around her. "I have a small task for you. Technically, you are supposed to be working for Sasuke but he won't mind this I'm sure, as he's out of the village for today. I need you to pick up a delivery for me."

"A delivery?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Hmm..I had a set of knives ordered from the Weapon's Yard in South District. But they don't deliver so normally I have one of the Shinobi's pick up my order or I do it. Unfortunately, the whole lot of them claim they are busy and Shizune is holding me hostage here in my office until I finish signing all these damn papers." She gestured to the large stack of papers on her desk. Shizune sighed at the woman's over dramatization and rolled her eyes at Naruto behind her back, causing the blond to involuntarily grin.

"Sure, I guess I could pick it up for you."

"Wonderful! Here's a map of where you need to go. When you get there just tell them you're there for the Hokage's order and TenTen will know what to give you if the others don't."

Naruto took the slip of paper and finished his tea. After giving a polite bow he headed down towards the village entrance. At first, as he headed down the main road, nothing was amiss. There were villagers wandering up and down the road shopping. It wasn't until he reached the central marketplace in the square that he noticed all the stares and whispers he was getting. Naruto felt a bit of amusement at it in between feeling annoyed about it. '_I feel like I'm back in high school instead of among a town of hundred year plus spirits' _he thought. It was eerily similar to when he first came out in high school and everyone found out his preference. Back then though, he had Sakura and Lee to back him up. Now he was on his own. Still, he could hear Sakura's voice in his ear saying the same thing she did back then. '_Just ignore them, Naruto. Eventually they'll get bored and move onto much jucier news then the resident gay guy._' The situation was slightly different but the advice was still sound here. _'They'll get used to having a human around,_' he thought firmly and then walked forward more confidently.

Eventually, he got to South District and entered it. As he made his way down the main road he smelled a familiar smell and let a big whoop, startling several villagers in the process. "RAMEN!"

He made a beeline in the smell's direction and sure enough, there was a small ramen stand. '_Thank God! I was beginning to wonder if they had any ramen in this world!_' The blond dug around in his pockets for the money Sasuke had given him earlier that week. The money he had was no good in this world so the man gave him a weekly allowance to buy things like food in the cafeteria which had to be bought. Naruto quickly counted the odd gold coins and glanced at the menu. He had more then enough for at least two bowls.

'_I'm sure Tsunade will understand if I pause for a few minutes to get some lunch_' he thought as he eagerly ordered two bowls of miso from the man behind the counter. '_It's even more delicious then I remember!_' he thought giddily as he slurped down the noodles in record speed, causing the people in the stand to stare at him in disbelief.

"That was great stuff, Mister," he complimented the man who served him.

"Uh...thank you," the man said, staring at the small man who just went through two bowls of ramen in two minutes.

"Well, I'm off. But I'll definitely be back!" He waved and then headed off to find the store.

After a few twists and turns (he realized a bit later that he had the map upside down) Naruto finally found Weapon's Yard which was a large building in the center of the district with surrounding fields that were fenced off. Glancing over the fence, the blond spotted several shooting ranges and what looked to be a martial arts practice area.

He entered through the double doors of the shop and found himself surrounded by every weapon imaginable. There was a whole wall displaying swords and daggers, a wall displaying bows and arrows and axes, and one that held various items such as throwing stars or smoke bombs. In the middle of the shop were barrels that held odds and ends. Naruto was inspecting a spool of thread and wondering how on earth that could be used as a weapon when a female's voice said sharply, "Can I help you?"

Naruto spun around and found himself looking at a woman who (seemingly) looked to be around his age with black hair pulled back into two buns and black eyes. She was slim and athletic looking and wore simple black pants and flats with a white Chinese style t-shirt.

"Hi," he said. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I'm supposed to pick up a delivery for the Hokage."

"Oh, right. Her kunai knives. Excuse me."

She went back behind a counter that showcased several of the said weapon. He was admiring the scroll work on one set's handle when she emerged with a small box. "Here we are. The set is already paid for. I'm TenTen, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," Naruto bowed.

"You too," she returned the bow. "Is there anything I can get you? We're having a sale on those." She gestured to the knife he had been looking at.

Naruto shook his head. "That's okay. I'd have no idea how to use it. I just studied martial arts in high school, not knife fighting."

"Well, we offer lessons, so if you're interested in learning feel free to join."

"I'll keep that in mind." He said, as he took the box.

"Come again!" She called as he left.

_**SasuNaru**_

Sasuke couldn't help but feel a bit of satisfaction as he and Shikamaru entered Konoha with Kabuto. The white haired man was in Chakra binds which probably wouldn't hold him for long, but they could get stronger binds when they got to the headquarters. To be honest, he was surprised that Kabuto was still in Rice Village when they arrived. Rice was a civilian village with no Shinobi in it. How on earth Kabuto managed to get himself caught there, Sasuke didn't know, but he was grateful for it. Maybe now they could finally get some information on Orochimaru, and in turn his brother. Kabuto was the man's faithful servant after all.

"So I here you have a human here now," Kabuto said conversationally. As if he wasn't a bound prisoner at all and they were all actually friends.

"That's none of your business," Sasuke said through gritted teeth. Kabuto had always grated his nerves whenever they met in battle. Something do with that know-it-all smirk he tended wear.

Such as the one he was wearing now. "Oh, staying with you is he, Uchiha?"

"You seem awfully interested in a mere human, Kabuto," Shikamaru said, shooting Sasuke a warning look.

"We haven't had one in this world in a while. Can you blame me?"

Sasuke didn't buy it for a second. Judging from the frown on his face, Shikamaru didn't either. He glanced ahead in thought and tensed when he saw a familiar head of blond hair up appear in the entrance to South District. '_What the hell is Naruto doing here?_' he thought. Normally he wouldn't have cared what Naruto did on his wanderings but at this moment his instincts were telling him that he should keep the blond far away from Kabuto as possible.

_'Just turn around and head for the tower'_ he silently willed the blond. No such luck. Naruto paused and happened to glance their way and saw him. _'Damn it_' he thought as the man grinned and started to wave at him.

"Hey, Sasuke! Shikamaru!"

'_Damn it, damn it, damn it!_' he mentally thought as Naruto started to walk towards them. Then suddenly Kabuto broke the chains on his wrist and darted forward and grabbed the blond. By then, the villagers had all recognized the threat of a dangerous shinobi and emptied the streets so now it was just those two and Sasuke and Shikamaru facing off.

"What the hell," Naruto said as Kabuto grabbed him and wrapped an arm dangerously around his neck. He promptly fell silent.

"Let him go, Kabuto," Sasuke firmly, drawing out his sword. He felt Shikamaru behind him leave to get help.

"He's the human isn't he, Uchiha?" Kabuto said triumphantly.

Sasuke gripped his sword and remained silent. Kabuto smirked, "I'll take that as a yes."

Then Naruto scowled and stomped on Kabuto's foot causing the man to grunt in surprise, then the blond gave him a hard elbow jab in the gut, causing him to let go of Naruto's neck and he took that moment to scramble away.

Sasuke looked on in surprise as Naruto quickly made his way to the side, put the box down, and got into a defensive stance.

Kabuto glared at him. "Lousy brat."

Naruto just glared back.

"Naruto, get out of here," Sasuke said firmly. The blond looked at him in surprise.

Kabuto started to chuckle. "Oh, I see. Tsunade put the little human under your protection, didn't she?"

"Who are you calling little?!" Naruto glared at him, but before he could move to punch the guy, Sasuke moved in front of him. "Hey!"

"Naruto, I mean it; go now."

"Who the hell died and made you my boss?" Naruto demanded.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him and the blond remembered that technically Sasuke was his boss. "Well, STILL."

Kabuto smirked at the pair. "He certainly is a loud one, isn't he?"

"You have no idea," Sasuke muttered. "Naruto, GO."

Something in his voice must have registered with the blond and he hesitated.

"How far do you think I'll let the little human get?" Kabuto smirked.

"What makes you think I'll even let you get to him?" Sasuke replied getting into a defensive stance in front of the blond.

"What makes you think you'll even be able to move, Kabuto?" Shikamaru's voice came and they all looked up to see themselves surrounded by Shinobi. Sasuke smirked at Kabuto who now realized he was outnumbered.

"Ah well. Another time, human," Kabuto said with a shrug and then pulled a kunai from his boot and stabbed himself, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"What the," Naruto started behind him and Sasuke frowned. He felt like that was too easy.

"Clone," Shikamaru muttered.

Kiba jumped to where Kabuto had stood and kicked at the sand. "Lousy bastard. Probably switched his body before he even got into the village. I've mentioned I can't stand that guy, right?"

"Yes, Kiba. Several times," Shino said blandly beside him.

"Just checking."

"Everyone search the village," Sasuke said. "Kiba's probably right, but you never know. He may still be here."

"I'm sorry, Uchiha. Did you just say I was right about something?" Kiba said in surprise. Sasuke glared at him and he shut his mouth. "Bye."

"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Naruto demanded as the others took off. Shikamaru and Sasuke looked at him. "Well?"

"He's your servant, Uchiha." Shikamaru said and quickly left.

_'Don't remind me'_ he thought as Naruto glared at him, as if daring him to not explain.

"Come on," he said and Naruto started to say something. "I'll tell you when we get home. It's a long story anyway."

Looking satisfied, Naruto nodded and after picking up the box, followed him to the tower.

_**SasuNaru**_

After dropping off Tsunade's knives, Naruto and Sasuke went back into the apartment where Naruto sat down on the couch and looked at expentantly. "Well?" Sasuke looked at him for a few moments and then sat down next to him and started to talk.

"The man that you just met is Kabuto Yakushi. He is a servant of Lord Orochimaru, who is an enemy of not only this world, but your world as well."

Naruto frowned. "My world? I've never heard of the guy."

"You wouldn't. Humans have no idea of the threat he poses to them. Just as they have no idea this world exists."

"So how is he a threat to us?"

Sasuke looked at him. "How much has Iruka told you about what this world's purpose is?"

He thought back to all of his previous lessons. "Well, from what I gather, the spirits are practically a part of my world. You aren't spirits of the dead but of life. You help create most of the living things of Earth such as trees, plants, animals, rivers, even weather to some extent. Is that right?" He looked at Sasuke hopefully.

"More or less. Though weather creates itself mostly like your scientists think, we just sort of help it along."

"Right. So what does that have to do with this Orochimaru guy?"

"Orochimaru is one of the few spirits who think that it shouldn't be like that."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "I don't get it."

"He feels that this system we have: us creating things and humans using the things we create, is unfair. There are those that agree with him but unlike him, most of them see the consequences of destroying the way things are."

"What are the consequences?"

"Say that we all suddenly stop growing things in your world. Water would eventually stop coming from the sky and you would have worldwide droughts. Animals would stop procreating and therefore meat sources would grow scarce. Plants would stop growing and therefore you wouldn't have those to eat either. Eventually the planet would become a barren wasteland and humans themselves would even die out. This would, in turn, cause US to disappear because if the spirit's purpose is to create. If we do not create, we disappear. So this world would also disappear and Earth would become as dead as the moon."

Naruto stared at him. "You're exaggerating."

Sasuke looked at him firmly. "No, I'm not. The human world and the spirit world are interconnected. One cannot exist without the other."

"Like Yin and Yang?"

"I suppose you could put it that way."

"Wow," Naruto said, feeling floored.

"This is a major reason we have a barrier between our worlds. It's to prevent spirits such as Orochimaru from having access to your world. If they did, who knows what havoc they would wreak."

"So I guess you guys need to catch this Orochimaru guy bad, huh?"

"Yes. He's planning something. Gathering followers and starting something that we think will effect the human world. Tsunade suspects that he had something to do with you being here."

Naruto blinked in surprise. "Me? What would he want with me?"

Sasuke frowned. "That's a very good question."

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

The next day, Naruto headed down to meet Iruka like usual who looked up at him worriedly. "Are you all right? Kakashi told me that you were grabbed by Kabuto yesterday."

Naruto smiled. "I'm fine! I didn't take defense lessons in high school for nothing, you know. Besides, Sasuke and a whole bunch of other Shinobi were there too."

Iruka smiled. "Yes, and Sasuke wouldn't let anything happen to you."

"Yeah," Naruto said without thinking and then registered what Iruka said. "Uh, I mean, I guess."

"He wouldn't," Iruka said. "I've known him since I've been here. The man is too proud to let someone on his watch be harmed while he's around. That's probably part of why Tsunade put you under his care."

"I wish everyone would stop saying it like that," Naruto muttered. "You all are acting like he's my baby-sitter or something."

Iruka just shrugged. Naruto then eyed him curiously. "Hey, Iruka-Sensei, I just thought of something."

"Yes?"

"What type of spirit are you? I mean, what is you create in my world? I never asked."

"Oh. I'm a tree spirit."

"So you create trees?"

"Basically."

"Hm...what's Kakashi?"

Iruka smiled wistfully. "A wolf spirit."

"Oh...I wonder what type of spirit, Sasuke is?"

"That's something you'll have to ask him."

Naruto blinked. "You don't know?"

"No, I do. But he's a private man and might not appreciate me telling you without his permission."

Naruto pouted. "So I'll have to ask him?"

"Is that a problem?"

The blond shrugged. "I get the feeling he doesn't like telling me stuff. I'm not sure he'll tell me if I ask. Yesterday, when he told me about Orochimaru, I got the feeling he left a lot of stuff out."

"He probably did. Orochimaru is a touchy subject around here."

"Yeah, I gathered," Naruto muttered. "Shikamaru and the others won't talk to me about him either."

"There's no need to take it personally."

"Well how else am I supposed to take it?" Naruto finally burst out. "The fact that I had to learn about this guy only after some wierdo grabs me, says to me that you all don't trust me, and I'm going to take a wild guess and say it's because I'm a human."

Iruka sighed. "Naruto, you have to understand. This is a Shinobi village."

"So?"

"So, secrets are a way of life for Shinobi. Even I'm not fully trusted still and I've been here over a hundred years but I've realized something. Keeping things from you is part of their way of protecting you."

Naruto stared at him in disbelief. "Protecting me?"

Iruka smiled sadly. "I know it's hard to believe but honestly, it's the truth. Shinobi tend to be a protective bunch, especially when it comes to people they care for and they care immensely for the people in this village. I also think they are starting to care about you."

Naruto frowned. "It's still annoying not being told the whole truth."

"I know. But you get used to it."

"Don't you get tired of it?"

"Quite often. But then I remember that in their own way, it's how they show they care."

Naruto eyed him doubtfully but decided to change the subject. It was getting depressing.

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

Naruto never did get around to asking Sasuke what type of spirit he was. For some reason the idea that Sasuke might avoid the topic or not trust him with the information made him feel sadder then his friends avoiding the Orochimaru topic and, he now realized, anything else that had to do with their jobs as Shinobi. Then before he knew it, the end of November approached and on the beginning of the last night he was woken by Sasuke walking into the living room before the sun sat. Naruto pretended to still be asleep as he watched the man go through the drawers of weapons. He was dressed all in black: black sandals, black pants, and a black skintight shirt and his katana was strapped to his back. The blond was confused about the attire but couldn't help but admire the look. '_Damn, the bastard looks good in black_.' Ignoring his attraction as usual, Naruto sat up as Sasuke turned from gathering his weapons together. Sasuke froze when he saw the blond was up.

"I was trying not to wake you," he said quietly.

"Are you going somewhere?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Mission. It will probably take a few days. I left a note."

"Oh."

Sasuke headed to the door and then Naruto said, "Hey."

He looked at the blond over his shoulder and Naruto felt himself blush.

"Um...good luck, you know. With...whatever," he finished lamely.

Sasuke just looked at him for a few seconds and then his lips quirked up in a sort of half smile. He nodded and then left leaving Naruto staring after him. Okay, so that hadn't been a full smile, but it hadn't been his usual smirk either. Whatever it was left butterflies in his stomach though and made his heart beat speed up. This was just a reaction from a half smile too.

"Oh shit," Naruto muttered to himself.

TO BE CONTINUED...

AUTHOR NOTES: Before anyone hits the review button I want to remind you of something: this is a FANTASY fic. Therefore you have no need to have your religious/scientific/whatever views on creation offended. I'm pretty sure no one will be offended, but you never know so I'm just saying this now before anyone tries to start some sort of debate with me which is not what I feel like doing. So please, NO FLAMES. But all other reviews are more then welcome.


	4. Chapter 3: December

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

AUTHOR: fantasylover12001

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any similarities in this plot to the wonderful movie, Spirited Away which heavily influenced this fic, therefore I am not making any money off of this (sadly).

PAIRINGS: See first part.

RATING: R to NC-17 to lower (it differs between chapters)

SUMMARY FOR CHAPTER: As the new year comes closer, Naruto continues to discover secrets about the world he is inhabiting and continues to fall further for Sasuke. Sasuke meanwhile discovers Naruto's presence may not have been an accident and someone from his past may be involved in the brewing plots surrounding Konoha and the human he finds himself becoming attached too, despite himself.

AUTHOR NOTES: Sorry for the massive delay. Real life hates my fangirl life. For a more decent explanation you can see my LJ.

CHAPTER 3: DECEMBER

December brought cold to the village of Konoha and Naruto hated it. He may have been born in the fall, but he was a Summer person at heart. The only good thing about this time of year was that it brought the holiday season and snow, which was always rather pretty. But the bitter cold up until those times was annoying in the blond's opinion. A week into the month he shivered as he stood outside with Hinata, Kiba, and Shikamaru eating some Pocky.

The three of them were on patrol duty and Naruto had brought them some snacks to share before they left. He had taken to doing this lately because the apartment felt so lonely without Sasuke. The man was still on whatever mission it was that Tsunade had sent him on and Naruto found himself missing him. To escape the empty feeling of the place he had started hanging around outside more, getting to know the others better. Thus the reason he met the three of them with the treats in hand. He popped a chocolate Pocky stick in his mouth and sighed when he thought of the empty place waiting for him.

"Is something wrong, Naruto?" Hinata asked him hesitantly and then blushed deep red when the blond looked at her and smiled.

"Nah, I just kind of miss Sasuke that's all."

The three of them stared at him. "You're kidding," Kiba said in surprise.

The blond shrugged. "Well, I do. Believe it or not, the apartment is even quieter when he's not around."

Kiba stared at him doubtfully. "If you say so."

"He'll be back soon," Hinata assured him. "His mission was supposed to end sometime this week."

"Oh?" Naruto perked up. Then he frowned. "That's assuming something doesn't happen to him."

"He'll be fine," Kiba said. "That guy's never late on his missions."

"Really? Nothing's ever happened to him?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Nah. Nothing serious anyway."

"That's not entirely true, Kiba, and you know it," Shikamaru said softly.

Kiba frowned. "What are you talking about, Shikamaru?" Then he blinked at the man's pointed look. "Oh, yeah. Almost forgot about that."

"I don't know how you could have," Hinata murmured with a shudder.

Naruto looked at the three of them in confusion. "Forget what?"

The three looked at each other and fell silent. "Nothing important," Kiba said quickly. "Come on, guys, we got to get going." The other two nodded and said good-bye to Naruto who glowered at their backs as they left.

'_Great, MORE secrets_.' The blond thought irritably.

_**SasuNaru**_

Later that day, Naruto stood on the balcony connected to Sasuke's quarters watching the sun slowly rise. Most of the spirits were now settled in for the day, so the tower and village were remarkably quiet. Naruto sighed as he watched the sun rise. This was when he missed Sasuke the most. Usually the man would be home by now and it had become an unspoken habit for the two of them to watch the sun rise while eating whatever Naruto had managed to cook that night. Now though, it was just him, and he found the silence disconcerting. Even if Sasuke did not speak much, he made noises while reading a book or clacking his chopsticks together as he ate. As he tried to ignore the silence, something flew against the rising sun in the distance and Naruto frowned as the black shape grew larger.

"What is that?" He murmured and leaned forward on the porch railing to see it better and then gasped as the shape became clearer. "No way..."

But there it was. An honest to goodness dragon. At least, Naruto was pretty sure it was a dragon. He had read enough fantasy books in his life to identify one, so he was pretty sure that was what the creature was. Large bat-like wings: check. Talons and teeth: check. Lizard-like appearance, including long tail: check. This dragon had jet-black scales and what looked like dark red eyes. Naruto couldn't help but marvel at it. But the marvel quickly turned to panic when he realized that the dragon was headed straight towards him. He didn't know much about what real dragons were like, but he was pretty sure that one headed straight towards him was NOT a good thing.

The blond quickly ran into the living room as the dragon landed on the railing and slammed the screen doors shut but it was pointless as the dragon simply walked right through the doors as if he was a ghost. Which Naruto reminded himself, he basically WAS. Now up close, he saw that it's neck was long as well and it was about the size of the large living room and it's wings spanned the whole room as well. Naruto was tiny enough; having the dragon there made him feel like an insect.

The dragon let out a low moan and that's when Naruto noticed the blood. It hadn't been easy to spot at first, due to the black scales, but now he realized that the dragon's whole right side was covered in blood and was swaying.

_'Crap. Not only do I have a dragon, I have an INJURED dragon. Where the hell is Sasuke when I need him?_' He thought furiously. Then, as if answering his thoughts, the dragon's shape began to shift. Naruto watched with wide eyes as the dragon shrank and changed into Sasuke himself. The blond blinked several times and then gawked at the man.

"What the hell?" He stuttered and then jumped when Sasuke collapsed to the floor. He ran forward and sucked in a breath at the wound that somehow looked ten times worse on his human form.

"Tsunade." Naruto blinked and stared at Sasuke in confusion.

"What?"

"Get Tsunade. Heal." The man ground out and then finally passed out.

He wasn't sure what good the woman was going to be but Naruto wasn't about to waste time asking questions. Not with so much blood spilling to the floor; so he ran.

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

Black eyes slowly opened and Sasuke slowly woke up to the familiar sight of his room. There was the wall full of books and scrolls. His desk, reading chair, and the small shrine to the rest of his now deceased clan. Sasuke realized that he was shirtless and in his bed and gingerly lifted his hand to his side and winced. He was bandaged but the injury still hurt like the devil._ 'Damn you, Itachi'_ he thought. Then he glanced down on his other side and started at the sight of Naruto fast asleep.

The blond sat on a cushion next to his futon with his head buried in his arms on the edge of the mattress. It was a marvel to see the blond so quiet, Sasuke mused and merely watched him for a few moments, partly puzzled about why the blond was there in the first place. Then he recalled how he landed in the first place and winced as he remembered the blond's terrified face.

_'I should have warned him about my other form'_ he thought. '_It would have made this much more easier.'_

But dragons were myths to humans. As far as they knew his creatures did not exist anymore (or at all). And indeed in the human world there were very few dragons that DID exist. Mostly because aside from he and his brother, there were no more dragon spirits. Which was due to the brother in question. He scowled.

"Well, if you're scowling, then you must be feeling all right," an amused voice came from his door and he glanced up at Kakashi.

"How long?" He asked, knowing the man would understand. Kakashi had gotten seriously injured about as many times as he had.

"Two days. Tsunade says that you are to take it easy and she means it this time, though she doesn't think you'll listen. What happened? It was merely a scroll delivery."

"I ran into my brother."

"Ah. That explains the injury."

"Hn." He glanced down at the blond. "How long has he been here?"

"He's been watching over you since you fell," Kakashi said, looking very amused. "Been quite the mother hen actually. Gives Iruka a run for his money. He fell asleep an hour or so ago, but that's probably due to the sleeping drug I put in his tea. The man has a remarkable amount of energy, I must say."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Sleeping drug?"

"Just a small one. He's remarkably stubborn as well."

"I noticed. How long is Tsunade grounding me for this time?"

"You'll have to ask her. She'll be by in a bit to read you the riot act for not only disturbing her and Jiraiya, but upsetting your charge, as well as getting yourself nearly killed." Kakashi smiled. "I think she's growing attached to Naruto."

"Can't wait," Sasuke muttered and lay down. Then he hesitated. "Itachi said something during our fight."

"Something beyond death threats, you mean?"

"Yes. He said he and Orochimaru were looking forward to meeting my little blond."

Kakashi frowned. "He means Naruto. Since when were he and Orochimaru so interested in humans?"

"I'm not sure," He glanced down at the sleeping blond. "I also would like to know why everyone keeps referring to him as 'mine'."

"Well he is in your charge," Kakashi said in amusement. Sasuke glared at him. "Anyways, we should keep a sharp eye on him. Perhaps you could also find out more about his past. Maybe there's something about him we don't know, but they do."

"I'll see what I can do," Sasuke muttered.

_**SasuNaru**_

Naruto slowly woke up and then immediately wished he hadn't. His entire back and neck ached because he spent the night by Sasuke's bed. Again.

"Bad sleeping position," he muttered, lifting his hand to his neck. You would have thought he had learned his lesson last night when he did the same thing and got scolded for it by Lady Tsunade who had discovered him.

"No one told you to sleep there," a familiar voice said and he jumped when he saw Sasuke sitting up wide awake.

"Jeez. When did you wake up?"

"While ago."

The blond glowered at him. "You could have woken me. While we're at it, you could've mentioned you were a DRAGON."

Sasuke frowned a little. "You didn't wake when Kakashi shook you, so we let you be."

"Oh," Naruto said. "Well, you still could've mentioned the fact that you turn into a dragon."

He shrugged. "Probably. But you know now, so what's done is done."

Naruto made a frustrated noise. "Is there anything else I should know?"

Sasuke hesitated. "No."

The blond narrowed his eyes. "Funny, I highly doubt that. But whatever. I'm hungry. You want something to eat?"

Sasuke nodded. "Fine. I'll bring you back some ramen."

"Ramen is hardly healthy," Sasuke said blandly.

"Hey, beggars can't be choosers. I've been looking after your sorry butt for the past few days so I get to choose what we eat tonight." He then left before Sasuke could protest any further.

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

Tsunade ultimately decided that Sasuke was to be off active duty for a month while his side fully healed. He tried to reason with the woman but after seeing her crack her knuckles he wisely retreated. Sasuke had no desire to be thrown through a wall. It would only prolong his bed rest.

Luckily, a few days after his announced "grounding", Iruka asked him to teach Naruto how to use his Chakra which apparently had started to show after he left. Iruka gave the blond a crash course in what Chakra was used for and a basic way to access it, but their lessons were technically over as he and the blond had gone over just about anything Naruto would need to know to survive the spirit world so he thought it best to pass him over to the one he was to be serving anyway. Sasuke also had a feeling Iruka knew he was getting restless and was giving him something to do.

So that was how he found himself explaining to Naruto how to access his Chakra a few days later. The blond sat on the ground with a frown. "That doesn't make sense."

The two were outside in the gardens of the tower in the back. Sasuke felt it was best to do their first lesson in a place where not much people went. It was a bit cold, being December, but after he lit up a few of the outside torches it helped with the cold. Sasuke sighed. He really should have gotten Kakashi or one of the others to do this. What on earth made Iruka decide he was teacher material in the first place?

"Here, I'll access my Chakra so you can see how it's done," Sasuke said and then stood in front of Naruto. He closed his eyes and put his hands in the correct position. Naruto frowned in puzzlement and started waving his hand in front of Sasuke.

"Stop that," Sasuke said, without opening his eyes and the blond promptly stopped.

Then after a few seconds, Naruto watched with astonished eyes as a white light began to form around the man. "Wow."

Sasuke opened his eyes and the glow disappeared. "Now you try."

Naruto hesitated and got up. His hands formed the seal that he was taught and he closed his eyes. Then he opened them. "Uh...what am I supposed to be feeling here?"

"Just try to clear your mind. Then we'll go from there."

"How do I know if my mind is clear?" Then blinked as Sasuke glared at him. "Uh...never mind."

It ended up being a few hours of Naruto standing there before something finally happened. Sasuke started to see the Chakra form around the blond (who as far as he could tell, didn't even seem to know he was doing it) but then he frowned as the Chakra grew stronger.

'_What the hell?_' he thought and activated his Sharingan to make sure he wasn't seeing things, but no...there were TWO Chakra signatures forming around the blond. One a warm bright blue, the other a bright vivid red.

Sasuke made a surprised sound and Naruto opened his eyes, "What? Am I doing it?"

The Chakra disappeared and Sasuke frowned. "Yeah, you did it."

"Aww...I didn't realize. Was it pretty, like yours?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow and the blond realized what he said and looked away quickly.

"It was...interesting." he said slowly.

SasuNaru

"TWO Chakra signatures, are you sure?" Tsunade, staring at Sasuke in shock.

"Positive. One was red, one was blue."

"It's impossible for someone to have two Chakra signatures. Especially for a human," Shizune said, equally stunned.

Tsunade sighed. "I bet this has something to do with why Orochimaru and Itachi are so interested in him."

"Probably," Sasuke muttered, scowling at the mention of his brother.

The woman put a hand to her forehead. "Damn questions. I hate them. Jiraiya, next time we run into that snake, remind me to pound him for the headaches he's causing me."

"Will do," Jiraiya said cheerfully.

"Well, I suppose we can't do much except keep a closer eye on Naruto. Good thing you're around for a month, eh Sasuke?"

Sasuke glared at the woman.

SasuNaruSasu

A week later or so, the holiday festivities were in full swing. Normally, Sasuke ignored these events to the best of his ability. Oh, he showed up to the annual dinner and dance that Tsunade threw for her Shinobi but mostly because she would order Kakashi to pull him by the ear in front of anyone if he didn't show. Something he learned the hard way, his first year there. But other then that and a few exchanging of cards with his peers he preferred to think the holidays didn't exist.

Naruto didn't share this view. A fact he made perfectly clear when he dragged in a tree to decorate into the apartment. He purposefully ignored Sasuke's glares as he happily decorated with help from Hinata and Kiba (who both kept a wary eye on him throughout the process of it, as if they were afraid he was going to blast the thing with his fireball jutsu; something he had briefly considered doing). As if the tree weren't bad enough, he put up lights on the porch. Sasuke let it go, though. Besides, he had a feeling if he took down the decorations Naruto would just put them back up anyway.

On the night of the winter festival Sasuke had plans to sit and read a book. However, Naruto was having none of that and therefore was finding himself listening to a whining blond for at least an hour until finally, he said, "If I go, will you leave me alone after?"

"Maybe."

He would take what he would get. "FINE. Let me go change." He had his festival kimono SOMEWHERE...in the back of his closet, maybe.

After changing into the dark blue outfit, he went back and froze as he saw that Naruto had changed as well. The blond had on the traditional black divided pants, black sandles and white socks. His top was a light turquoise blue that was the exact shade of his eyes and he was frowning into the full length mirror on the bathroom door. He glanced up and smiled when he saw Sasuke.

"Hey, can you help me with this? I can never tie these things right," he said hopefully, holding up the dark red obi belt in his hand.

Sasuke hesitated. "Sure." Naruto beamed and wrapped it around his waist. Sasuke came up behind him and set about tying up the ends of the belt. He stepped back when he was done.

"Thanks," Naruto said. Then he went and grabbed the jacket that went with the outfit. The jacket was an orange color with a red and white swirl pattern along the knee length bottom and on the sleeves. The coloring was perfect for Naruto and Sasuke couldn't help but admire Ino's handiwork.

"Well, let's go," Naruto said happily and Sasuke found himself being dragged out the door.

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

The festival was not the only event Naruto dragged Sasuke too over the next week, much to his chagrin. He found himself attending fireworks displays, get togethers he wasn't even aware his peers held, and after a severe scolding from the blond, buying his peers more then just cards.

By the time New Years Eve rolled around he felt exhausted from all the festivies and was ready to fry the next person who had the gall to smile amusedly as Naruto dragged him to something else. Yes, it was strange how the blond managed to get him to do things, he wasn't sure why he couldn't bring himself to tell the blond to fuck off like he would have normally with anyone else. Though honestly, he had a feeling the blond would just smirk at him and ignore him even if he DID tell him that.

He was a bit surprised, yet relieved when Naruto opted to stay in for the New Years Eve celebration. They spent the late hours in companionable silence. Naruto lay on the floor sketching away and Sasuke read a book. Then as midnight approached, they headed to the porch to watch the fireworks display from the festival.

"They say that if you kiss someone at midnight on New Years Eve, you'll spend the next year with them," Naruto said. Then he frowned. "At least I think that's what they say. I know there's some saying like that about the whole kissing thing."

Sasuke looked at him. "That was completely random."

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know why I thought of it, I just did."

"Hn," he looked forward and then started when a warmth graced his cheek and looked at Naruto with wide eyes as the blond quickly backed away from him.

"Happy New Year," he said quickly, and practically ran to the living room.

Sasuke sat there for several minutes and then followed him inside.

AUTHORS NOTE: Again, I apologize for the massive delay. Hopefully the next chapter will be out MUCH sooner. But then, that's what I said on the last update too...wasn't it? If anyone is interested in seeing artwork for this fic or my others, please visit my DA account which can be viewed at my DA profile here:

http : / / fantasylover12001 . deviantart . com (type address without spaces)


	5. Chapter 4: January

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

AUTHOR: fantasylover12001

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Please don't sue.

PAIRINGS: SasuNaruSasu, KakaIru, see first part for other pairings.

SUMMARY: For chapter: Sasuke discovers a confusing possible connection between Naruto and the spirit world.

AUTHOR NOTES: I am sorry this is massively late. My excuses are as follows: 1) writers block, 2) my computer crashed so I had to get a new laptop and rewrite this chapter when I was almost done (otherwise, this would have been out last month), 3) with the new laptop came microsoft office and as I've been using Word Perfect for the past few years, I had to get used to a new writing program; don't let people try and tell you they're the same, THEY LIE, (the reason I still had Word Perfect all these years:I'm POOR okay? Plus it's what I used in college so it was a comfort thing, I've now seen the era of my ways ;pets shiny microsoft word with its lovely editing program;), 4) Shiny distractions came in the form of new plot bunny (damn my sudden new fascination for KakaIru...), video games (I finally have a Wii!), and real life (work is good, work gets you money, money gets you shiny new things and food and rent...). So there you are. Sorry this is late again, please review! I SWEAR it won't take as long next time...I hope.

CHAPTER 4: JANUARY

Later that night, Sasuke lay on his futon, still thinking of when Naruto kissed him on the cheek. He slowly raised his hand to the cheek the blond kissed and cursed. Why the hell was he thinking about this anyway? He'd had dozens of other kisses in his life, many less innocent then a kiss on the cheek and much more pleasurable. Besides, it wasn't like Naruto meant anything by it. Hell, for all he knew humans kissed each other on the cheek all the time.

"You're being an idiot," he muttered to himself.

Even if by some chance, Naruto HAD meant something by it, it was a moot point. He was leaving in less than a year. Naruto was human. He belonged in the human world. Period. No matter how much the blond fit in this world. No matter how much his dragon side kept noticing how appealing the man was and would be an ideal mate. It didn't matter. Besides, even if Naruto WAS somehow allowed to stay in this world, and he highly doubted that would happen, there was little chance that the blond would be interested in pursuing a relationship with a dragon.

His kind only had one mate throughout their lives and everyone knew it. It was why he may get flirted with now and then, and even receive kisses, but no one would bed with him because many spirits did not want to be tied down for the rest of their afterlives. Especially not to dragons, who were notoriously possessive of their mates, and did not share. There was a reason most dragons ended up alone. His father had been very lucky to find his mother who did not mind, but mostly because she was a wolf spirit and they had very similar attitudes towards their mates though it wasn't as drastic. He highly doubted he would be as lucky as his father. Not with the way things had been going.

So he was being ridiculous by dwelling on this stupid kiss. At least that's what he kept telling himself and probably would keep telling himself till Naruto left for the human world.

_**SASUNARU**_

The first week of January brought about the kind of cold that was bitter and Naruto hated it. Cold was fine if it brought snow. Snow was pretty and fun to play in. Bitter cold was just annoying. It forced you to stay inside and there was only so much of that Naruto could take. So was it any wonder he was getting restless? It also was unfair that Sasuke, who was now healed from his injuries, seemed unaffected by the cold and was now getting ready to go on another mission

The blond scowled at Sasuke as he went through his pack. "Are you sure you're ready to go on this mission? I mean the old lady only gave you a clean bill of health a week ago."

Sasuke glared right back at him. "I'm sure. You might find this hard to believe Naruto, but I took care of myself just fine before you came along."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "There's no need to go back to being a bastard. I'm just worried."

Sasuke snorted. "You're also bored and angry that I'm leaving you without someone to bug."

Naruto smirked. "That too."

"Why don't you help out Iruka? I'm sure he could use it."

The blond gave him a horrified look. "Me? Help him manage that bunch of brats? I don't think so."

"Just a thought." He lifted his pack. "I'm sure you'll find some way to entertain yourself. Just don't damage any property, all right?"

Naruto looked at him innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "You have no idea how there ended up being a hole in the garden wall a day ago when, just the day before, I happened to teach you how to wield Chakra?"

"Nope. Must have been a clumsy spirit."

Sasuke gave him a look, but didn't comment.

_**SASUNARUSASU**_

In the vast area that was the spirit world was a tiny island surrounded by water. This small island was often overlooked and, aside from two spirits, was completely deserted. This was where Sasuke headed after he completed his delivery for Tsunade later that week. This island was his sanctuary. He had bought the island a few hundred years back after Kakashi accused him of letting all the money he earned doing his job go to waste. Buying it from some wealthy spirit gave him a way of shutting the stupid wolf up and it also helped him finally find a decent place for his dragon den.

When he bought the island however, the owner neglected to tell him about the islands two inhabitants, a hawk spirit named Neji Hyuuga (Hinata's cousin, who had disappeared earlier, she had been very happy to find out he hadn't disappeared like her clan had thought) and a raccoon spirit named Gaara of the Sand village (he never offered his last name and so Sasuke left it alone). Deciding that it would be unfair to kick the two off his island when they had been there for so long, Sasuke made a deal with them. They left his den, a cave that was under cliffs on the side of the island and hidden by foliage, alone and he would leave them be as well. Over time the three of them became sort of friends, though he was much to used to being alone for them to ever be close. Still, he did look forward to sharing dinners with the couple. Neji was an excellent cook.

After quickly depositing his latest treasures (two rare scrolls, and a gold square box he picked up in a village) to his den, Sasuke went up to the small house on the opposite side of the island and knocked on the door.

Gaara answered the door and the red haired man sighed when he saw who it was. "I told Neji that he shouldn't have fed you that one time. Now we can't get rid of you."

Sasuke smirked. "Nice to see you too, Gaara."

Gaara shrugged and let him in. He walked into the large living area of the cottage and nodded at Neji who was starting the meal. Neji waved at him. "Sasuke. How's my cousin doing?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Well enough I suppose. She's started to date Kiba recently."

The black haired man frowned and turned to him. "Do I know this Kiba?

"I'm sure you remember him. Dog spirit? Wild brown hair. Part of the Inuzuka clan?"

Neji stared in horror. "Not that loud idiot?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Good lord. I thought Hinata had better taste then that," he muttered. Then he shrugged. "Oh well, I'm sure it's just an infatuation."

"Actually, they've been together for quite some time. I'd get used to the idea if I were you."

"Great," Neji muttered sarcastically.

"Look at it this way, Neji. You're not over there enough to have to put up with him long anyway," Gaara said.

"I suppose," Neji said.

"So what's this about you taking in a human?" Gaara asked him.

Sasuke blinked. "You two know about that?"

The men snorted and Neji shook his head. "Sasuke, you can't keep a human in the spirit world for long and not have the rest of us know. In fact, even Gaara's siblings all the way in Sand know about it."

"Figures," Sasuke muttered. Spirits were notorious gossips and Neji was right. A human in the spirit world was a rare thing and enough to peak any spirit's curiousity.

"So what's he like?" Neji asked.

Sasuke frowned and tried to think of one word to describe Naruto to people who have never met him. He came up blank because Naruto was actually kind of hard to describe now that he thought of it. Oh, his looks were easy enough. But his personality? That was just something you had to meet for yourself to describe the blond. So he finally just settled for, "Interesting."

"What does he look like?" Gaara asked curiously.

Sasuke shrugged. "Like a human. He's blond, with blue eyes."

"Really?" Neji asked. "That's unusual for Japanese humans, isn't it? Is he a foreigner?"

"I…don't know. I never asked." Now that he thought about it, he didn't really know much about Naruto's life before he came here other than his best friends were a woman named Sakura Haruno Lee and a man named Rock Lee and that he was an artist.

"Well is he good looking at least?" Neji asked.

'_Oh, yes._' His inner dragon side purred. "He's passable." Suddenly wanting to change the topic Sasuke said, "There is something odd about his Chakra though. I was wondering if I could take a look at your library? I'm hoping that there might be a possible explanation in there." Neji and Gaara had lived much longer then he had and therefore and an even more extensive library then his. Chances were if he couldn't find a decent explanation in his collection, then there would possibly be one in theirs.

Gaara shrugged. "Go ahead. Just put things back where you find them."

Nodding his head in thanks, Sasuke headed towards the staircase. The library they had took up the whole bottom floor and was filled to the brim with books and old scrolls. There were books on everything from humans, spirits, old legends, history books, and even cookbooks. Sasuke wasn't even sure were to start but he decided to look for books that dealt with human and spirit relations first. It was possibly a long shot, but he had a feeling that was a good place to start.

It ended up taking a day longer then he expected. The only time Sasuke interrupted his research was to eat or when Gaara and Neji would come down to pester him to rest. Finally, in a dust covered beat up old leather book about stories he finally came across something that mentioned red Chakra. But then he stared in confusion because this couldn't possibly have anything to do with Naruto.

The mention was an old story about the great fox spirit Kyuubi no Kitsune, or Nine-Tails as he was more often called. Fox spirits were pretty common creatures. There were actually one or two living in his village, but nine-tail spirits were all but extinct. Kyuubi had been the last of his kind at the time of this story. According to the text the spirit had suddenly attacked Konoha without any reason. No one was really quite sure why and probably no one would ever know because in order to save the village, the leader of the village at the time had no choice but to banish the spirit to the human world in order to save Konoha. That was the last anyone had seen a nine-tail spirit. The reason Sasuke had stopped at the story was because the nine-tailed spirits Chakra had been described as a bright red. The same red as the second Chakra signature Naruto had.

Sasuke frowned and sat back. So nine-tail spirits had red Chakra. What did this have to do with Naruto though? '_I knew he was going to be trouble_' Sasuke thought to himself.

_**SASUNARUSASU**_

Naruto woke up and let out a great big whoop when he looked outside.

Sometime during the day it had started to snow and was still snowing. He LOVED snow. The blond gleefully went around pulling on the warmer cloths that Ino had sent him last month: a blue tunic, brown pants and black boots and a thick warm belted black overcoat that went to his ankles, as well as black gloves. It wasn't the sort of thing he normally went in for but it was warm and that was what counted. Besides, he wasn't about to tell Ino he hated her cloths, that woman was SCARY when she was angry.

After a quick meal with Shikamaru and Chouji, Naruto immediately headed outside.

It looked like he wasn't the only person getting restless. There were several other spirits out and about that night, enjoying the white blanket of snow on the ground. He waved at several of them as he passed. In the past few weeks a majority of the villagers had grown used to him, and some even grew bold enough to talk to him. He now no longer felt uncomfortable here. In fact, he thought suddenly, he felt more at home in this village then he had ever felt in his world. The fact was slightly startling. So startling, he didn't even notice when a snowball came whizzing toward him and hit him on the shoulder. He blinked and spun around to glare at the culprits.

Konohamaru smirked at him. "Got you!"

Naruto glared at the brat and his two friends who snickered along with him. These three were very young spirits. To everyone else, they looked like a trio of three ten year old kids but they were actually over a hundred years old. A fact Konohamaru had made sure to mention to Naruto when he helped out Iruka last week.

"You brats! You're going to pay for that!" Naruto shouted, not caring that half the street was now looking at them in amusement while the other half was trying to pretend they didn't exist.

"Oh…the big scary human is going to try and make us pay!" Konohamaru stuck out his tongue.

Moegi giggled and Naruto glared at the pig-tailed girl, while Udon sniffed. "We're so scared."

Naruto scowled. It was SO on…

_**SASUNARU**_

Sasuke walked down the streets of Konoha with a pensive frown on his face. His mind kept trying to come up with possibilities as to how Naruto could be connected to the Nine-tails and each theory he kept coming up with sounded crazy even to him. One theory was that Kyuubi was his father and Naruto didn't know but then he dismissed that, because Naruto had said he was an orphan and being a spirit, Kyuubi couldn't die. That also ruled out his ancestor theory as well.

He was almost to the headquarters when he heard loud shrieks of laughter, and stopped and stared. There, in a small clearing in the village was Naruto fully engaged in a snowball fight with three children that he recognized from Iruka's class. The black haired one, with the goggles he believed was named Konohamaru was the grandson of the now retired village leader. He wasn't sure who the red haired girl with pig-tails and the glasses wearing boy were though.

It seemed that the snowball fight didn't have any rules. One minute Naruto would be ganged up on by the three children but then Konohamaru would seem to change his mind and start throwing snowballs at his two friends and Naruto would help him. Then when the two were losing, Naruto would seem to decide to change his mind and go back to throwing snowballs at Konohamaru and then the two of his friends would help Naruto and then it would go back to the three of them against Naruto again. He wasn't the only one watching the snowball fight either, half the street was watching, and some actually seemed to be taking bets on who would win.

Just as he was about to lift another snowball Naruto finally noticed his presence and blinked. "Sasuke!" The other three kids turned and Sasuke shifted uncomfortably as everyone turned to look at him. Naruto held out his hands in surrender to the kids, "Later guys." Then he ran over to him. "You're back. How was your mission?"

Sasuke hesitated. "Successful."

The crowd had started to disperse by then, for which Sasuke was thankful, when Konohamaru glared at Naruto. "Hey, you can't just leave in the middle of a snowball fight! That's just lame! I don't care if your boyfriend is here!"

Naruto spun around to glare at him. "He is NOT my boyfriend!"

Seeing that he hit a nerve, Konohamaru smirked. "Really? You two look pretty cozy to me. Plus, aren't you basically living together?"

Naruto turned to Sasuke, "Excuse me; I have a brat I need to kill." Then he turned and started to hurl more snowballs at Konohamaru.

Watching the scene, Sasuke shook his head. What on earth could this carefree human have to do with one of the most powerful spirits on earth?

TO BE CONTINUED…

AUTHOR NOTES: To Kiba fans: I like Kiba, really I do. But let's face it, he would NOT get along with Neji. At least I'm pretty sure they wouldn't. So that's why Neji has that attitude. It's not because I don't like him, however, so please, no flaming. Once again, please review!


	6. Chapter 5: February

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

AUTHOR: fantasylover12001

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. I also do not own the plot/setting to Spirited Away on which this fic was heavily influenced by.

PAIRINGS: SasuNaruSasu, KakaIru, mentions of various others.

AUTHOR NOTES: Sorry for the massive delay on this. I meant to have it out ages ago but my brand new computer turned out to have a faulty memory and hard drive. So I had to send it in and was without it for over a month. I seriously just got it back two weeks ago and have been getting all my links and stuff in order since (I'm STILL not done…;cries;). So once again, I apologize. Thank you to all who have reviewed and shown patience and thank you for not sending the tar and featherers out after me. That said, I will honestly TRY to be quicker with the next one.

CHAPTER 5: FEBRUARY

February brought a bitter sort of cold to the village of Konoha that year. Skies were either gray and foggy or clear blue, not that the spirits knew that as they slept during this time. When they were up and about, the ground was frosty like and crunched beneath their feet. The cold however, did not deter them from their celebrations. Which was why, a few days before Valentines Day, the villagers were found decorating for a festival.

Sasuke jumped over the rooftops of the village that night and finally found Kakashi sitting on a tall blue building in the town square. He was seemingly reading his usual orange porn book, however, Sasuke noticed that every few minutes his eye would glance down at the crowd in the town square. He glanced down in the same direction and sure enough, there was Iruka helping with decorations. Sasuke shook his head after awhile of watching this.

"You know, one of these days, you really should let him know you feel the same as he does."

Kakashi's face became blank. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, Sasuke."

Sasuke sighed. "Sure, you don't."

If Kakashi wanted to make himself misarable by keeping quiet, that was his business. Personally, Sasuke thought he was being quite ridiculous. Anyone with eyes and a brain could tell Iruka adored him, even though Kakashi drove him crazy like he did everyone else. Sometimes Sasuke wondered about Iruka's taste but really, the situation wasn't his business, so he kept quiet.

"So, anything to report?" Kakashi said, eyes looking once again down below.

Sasuke looked down as well and saw that Naruto was also down there helping. He couldn't help but smirk at the sight of the small blond stuggling with all the streamers and paper hearts in his arms. It was an amusing sight. "No, nothing to report. There haven't been any changes."

"Hmmm…" Kakashi said and then the two fell into silence, just observing.

Even after a few weeks of observation, Sasuke still didn't have a clue how Naruto and the Nine Tailed Spirit were connected. It was growing frusterating, because he was sure that this somehow had to do with why Orochimaru wanted Naruto. But observing was not helping. Naruto was the same he'd always been since he'd gotten to Konoha: loud, annoying in a charming way, and just…well him. Sasuke had even gotten desperate enough to ask the blond once if he'd heard of the spirit of the Nine Tailed Fox. Naruto had given him a weird look and said slowly, "Yeah. Doesn't everyone in Japan know about the Nine Tail Fox spirits? I mean, they pop up in animes for crying out loud."

Sasuke couldn't really answer that because it was true. Nine Tail Foxes were a part of Japanese legends so he quickly changed the subject. It was obvious Naruto knew nothing about Kyuubi. But his frustration grew after that. He hated mysteries. Especially ones that he couldn't solve. Naruto was turning out to be a big mystery and he didn't like it.

_**SasuNaru**_

Naruto held up the paper hearts for Iruka to put up and glanced around.

"Man, people around here sure are crazy about Valentine's Day."

Iruka snorted. "Naruto, haven't you realized by now? It doesn't matter what holiday it is, all spirits like is an excuse to party. Valentine's Day just gives them an excuse to throw an even bigger party."

"With booze?" Naruto asked eagerly.

Iruka rolled his eyes. "You have MET our Hokage, right Naruto?"

Naruto smirked. It took him all of a month to realize that booze was Tsunade's biggest addiction. The only other thing she craved more was gambling which, unfortunately, she was horrible at. He was pretty sure that Tsunade made up these celebrations herself just so she would have an excuse to drink. Not that she needed one to begin with.

He blinked suddenly when he felt a familiary prickling sensation at the back of his neck. He glanced up and around and sure enough, there was Sasuke and Kakashi on the roof of one of the buildings. Naruto frowned and looked back to the streamers in his hands. He honestly didn't know what was going on with Sasuke these days. More then once he had caught the spirit eyeing him in a way that made Naruto feel slightly uncomfortable. It also, unfortunately, caused butterflies in his stomach as well. This stupid attraction was not going away. In fact, he was pretty sure it was getting worse. Sasuke staring at him in ways that made Naruto feel weak in the knees was so not helping.

He turned to glare at the spirit and then huffed when he saw both of them had disappeared.

"Jerk," he muttered.

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

The rest of the week was filled with preperations for the celebration. Naruto even found himself helping Iruka make chocolates. He found it odd that Iruka made chocolates, Valentines Day in Japan was, after all, for girls. He himself had always received chocolate from Sakura in the past and lately a few of his friends who happened to be girls. Some of them once in while jested that he should make chocolate to catch the attention of whatever guy he was crushing on then. He usually told them to go jump in the Pacific Ocean; he may be gay, but he wasn't THAT gay. He had his pride.

With his usual tact, he had asked Iruka why the man made chocolate, he wasn't a girl after all. Iruka blushed and then shrugged. "I make it for my students," he explained quickly. "They almost always give me something after all."

Naruto frowned, "Well then why don't you give them the chocolate on White Day like everyone else?"

"I give them chocolate then, too. I just like too."

Naruto still thought it was weird. That didn't stop him from helping and snitching a few extra chocolates though. Iruka was a really good cook. It also didn't stop him from teasing the man about the fancier bag of chocolates that was obviously for Kakashi. Iruka hmphed at him, "Well, you're taking a bag for Sasuke."

The blond shook his head. "This isn't for Sasuke, it's for me. I wouldn't get him stuff like this, he hates sweets."

Iruka blinked. "He does? He's never mentioned it."

"Wasn't hard to figure out; he turns his nose up at the sweet shop whenever we pass it and scowls whenever I have some and offer him a bite."

Iruka raised an eyebrow at the keen observartion but didn't say anything.

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

When Valentines Day did arrive, Sasuke spent the beginning of it as he did most of his nights these days: in his study, researching. He was currently going over a book on spirit myths and legends when the door to his study banged opened. He looked up and raised an eyebrow at Naruto who stood there with his hands on hips scowling at him.

"Yes, Naruto?" He asked blandly. Glancing at the blond up and down. He couldn't help but admire Ino's handiwork again. Naruto had gotten a new outfit for the festival. This one was a blue yukata that matched his eyes perfectly that came with a dark red obi belt and overcoat to keep him warm. On the red over coat were black embroidered swirls that were the symbol of the Konoha village. The coloring went well perfectly with Naruto's complexion. Sasuke realized he was staring as Naruto talked at him and realized he hadn't heard a word the blond said.

"What?"

Naruto's frown deepened. "I asked, are you going to be in here all night again?"

Sasuke sighed. "Yes. I have a job to do."

"Yeah, protecting villagers. All of whom are going to be at the festival, so you can do your job there."

"Naruto-,"

"No. You've been staying cooped up in this study for over a week now. That cannot be healthy. You're coming with me, and you're going to have some fun, damn it."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow at the sheer thought of him having "fun" at a festival full of lovesick fools.

The blond obviously realized what he was thinking. "Okay, maybe not have fun. But you are coming with me."

"Or you'll what?" Sasuke asked coolly.

Naruto blinked. "Or…I'll…sit here in the study and talk constantly in your ear until you do."

Sasuke weighed his options. "Fine."

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

A couple of hours later the two men walked back into the apartment. Naruto carried an armful of goodies from Ino, Hinata, and a few other females he had met here. He even had gotten one from Moegi, Konohamaru's pig-tailed friend. That was nothing though, compared to Sasuke's stash. He had gotten so much from random girls who kept popping up out of no where that he had to get two bags to carry all of it. Sasuke hated the attention he kept getting from girls. Naruto seemed to find it hysterical.

"Shut up," Sasuke muttered as Naruto giggled again.

"Oh come on, that was hysterical! Do they always follow you around like that?"

Sasuke glared and Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Really? No wonder you're so damn anti-social."

"You could've helped," Sasuke muttered.

"Yeah, but then we wouldn't have all this yummy chocolate to eat. Or I wouldn't have it to eat anyway."

Sasuke handed him the bags. "All that sugar is going to make you fat."

Naruto snorted, "Not likely. Like I care, anyway."

The spirit shook his head and the two fell into a comfortable silence. Then Naruto spoke up again, "So have you ever thought about it?"

Sasuke looked up at him from his place on the couch. "Thought about what?"

"Taking one of those girls up on their offers."

"Oh. No."

Naruto looked at him doubtfully. "Really? Not once?"

"I have more important things on my mind then sex. Besides, they weren't serious. They know as well as I, that if I did decide I want to sleep with one of them, they'd be tied to me for the rest of our afterlife. Most spirits do not want that."

The blond blinked in confusion. "Tied to you for life? What are you talking about?"

Sasuke sighed. "Dragons mate for life."

Naruto stared at him in surprise. "Wow…really? You seriously only have sex with one person your whole afterlife, or whatever this is considered?"

"Basically, yes." It was actually a lot more then just sex, but that was none of Naruto's business so Sasuke didn't elaborate.

"Huh…never would have pegged you for the whole soul mate type of person."

Sasuke scowled. "I'm not. It's just how Dragons are wired for some strange reason. I myself find it silly but it's a part of my species so I have no say in the matter."

Naruto tilted. "Oh. So I guess you haven't found…your mate yet, huh?"

"No." Something in him whispered that this was a lie. Sasuke ignored it.

The blond suddenly grinned as he flopped down on his futon. "Wow, so you're actually a virgin then? Who'd have thunk."

Sasuke scowled at him. "Shut up. Like you've had sex."

Naruto leered at him. "Actually, I lost my virginity a few years ago, I'll have you know. I could probably teach you a few things."

Something in Sasuke snapped at that. He wasn't sure why he was suddenly feeling this rage of jealousy but it made him suddenly stand up and walk over to Naruto who stilled at the anger in his eyes. Sasuke slowly leaned over the sitting blond till their faces were inches apart and then quietly said, "I doubt it. I've lived a very long time and some spirits can be quite the exhibitionists."

Feeling satisified at Naruto's shocked look, he calmly walked out.

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

A few days later, Sasuke sat on the couch reading another book, this one on seals. He was half way through it when the front door opened and Sasuke looked up to see Naruto finally come home. He frowned. "You're out late."

The blond jumped at his voice. "What are you, my keeper? I was with Kiba."

Sasuke frowned at the slightly slurred speech and noted the sluggish movements of the blond. "You're drunk."

Naruto shrugged. "A little."

Sasuke put the book down and scowled. "That dog is a bad influence."

"Drinking game was my idea."

"Drinking game?"

"Yup. Beer pong. I totally won. Kiba's much worse off then I am right now."

"Congratulations," Sasuke said dryly, rolling his eyes.

"Thank you." Naruto went to go pull down his futon and struggled with it for several minutes. Normally, he would have no problem with it but he was a bit drunk. Sasuke watched him struggle with trying to find the switch in amusement for a few minutes and then finally sighed.

"Here." He reached up from behind the blond and pulled the mattress down.

"Thanks." Naruto said. He looked up at Sasuke and started to say something and then suddenly put his hand over his hand. "Excuse me." He ran towards the bathroom and a few seconds later, Sasuke heard the sounds of him throwing up.

He waited awhile and then went to lean against the bathroom door as Naruto finished throwing up. "Better?"

"Kind of," Naruto said weaking leaning back. "Man, I usually hold my alchohol better then this. I was a legend in art school, you know."

"Our alchohol tends to be stronger then human alchohol. You were probably drinking straight sake."

Naruto stared at him in horror. "No wonder I was drunk…Good thing I only had a few glasses."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Define a few."

The blond's forhead crinkled as he thought hard. "Um….more then five, less then ten? I think…"

Sasuke muttered under his breath about idiots who shouldn't drink. Naruto glared at him. "Hey, I'm over twenty-one, I'm perfectly legal. Ow…headache." He leaned said head against the rim of the toilet.

Sasuke shook his head. "Best sleep it off."

The blond glared at him half heartly. "Duh." Sasuke raised an eyebrow and decided to leave the blond to tend to himself, he was obviously not going to appreciate any help from Sasuke tonight. So he went to put his book away and after a few minutes went to check on the blond and found him sprawled out on the mattress. He hadn't even taken the time to pull the covers over himself. Sasuke shook his head and went over to pull the comforter but then stopped. In his sleep, Naruto's night shirt had ridden up, revealing part of his stomach which had black markings on it.

"A seal?" He murmured in confusion. To be sure, he slow pushed the shirt up and sure enough, there was a seal in black ink. It was spirit ink too, he was sure of it, which meant Naruto probably wasn't even aware it existed as humans couldn't see anything made by spirits. Sasuke quickly went to get a piece of paper and drew the seal on it. Something told him that this had to do with Kyuubi. At least he hoped it did.

_**SasuNaruSasu**_

A few days later Naruto walked warily up to Lady Tsunade's office. After he had gotten home drunk the other night Sasuke had spent all his time in the study. He and Naruto had barely spoken for days and which made Naruto feel slightly hurt. Sure, Sasuke wasn't the most talkative guy in the world but he never out right ignored Naruto before. He had actually rather gotten attached to the silent presence that was the Uchiha. Okay, more then a little attached. He had a giant crush on the spirit. But he wasn't dumb enough to say anything about it.

Now all of a sudden, he was told by a messenger to go see Lady Tsunade. Some small irrational part of him wondered if maybe Sasuke had finally gotten tired of him and was pushing him on somebody else now. But he pushed that thought aside. Besides, it wasn't like he couldn't handle it if that was the case; he wasn't some wimp who cried if his crush didn't like him.

So he walked into Tsunade's office and then frowned in confusion when he saw not only Lady Tsunade and Shizune, but also Sasuke, Kakashi, and Jiraiya. Naruto slowly walked forward and sat in front of the desk. "Um…what's going on?"

Tsunade smiled reassuredly. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble. I just need to you show us your stomach please."

Naruto stared at her like she was crazy. "Um…excuse me?"

"It's very important, Naruto," Kakashi said quietly. Naruto looked at him in surprise because he had never seen Kakashi look so serious. Actually, they were all looking serious, and it was making him feel more nervous. He glanced at Sasuke, who was leaning against the wall behind Tsunade with his arms crossed, and he nodded at the blond.

Muttering under his breath about crazy spirits, Naruto undid his obi belt, and orange tunic to reveal his chest and torso and the minute his flesh was shown they all sucked in a breath and he looked at them with a frown. "What?"

"Naruto, are you aware that there is a seal mark on your stomach?" Tsunade asked. The blonde frowned and glanced down. He didn't see anything. "No there isn't."

"Actually Dobe, there is. It's done in spirit ink so you can't see it," Sasuke said bluntly.

Naruto glared. "Don't call me that! Why would I have a seal on my stomach? What's it do?"

"That depends, there are many seals for different purposes. This one is designed to contain spirits," Jiraiya said.

Naruto stared at him. "SPIRITS? Why would I have a seal on me that's designed to contain spirits?!"

Tsunade sighed, "That's what you're here for. Sasuke." She nodded to him and he walked forward and stopped in front of Naruto who looked at him warily.

"What are you doing?"

Sasuke looked at him gravely. "I'm going to see what's inside of you."

Naruto blinked. "Inside of me? There's nothing inside of me."

"That seal says otherwise, now keep your eyes open and don't blink."

The blond shook his head and Sasuke scowled. He reached down and grabbed Naruto's chin with his fingers and said, "Look at me, Naruto."

On instinct, Naruto looked at him and started when he saw that Sasuke's eyes were no longer black but a bright red that looked like there were black spirals swirling in them. "Wha-," he started to ask but then he fell into darkness.

_**SasuNaru**_

Sasuke looked warily around at the place he was now. Naruto's concious was surprisingly organized considering the blond's spazzy tendencies. He was currently in a long hallway lined with many doors labeled with things such as 'art projects', 'ideas', 'high school memories', 'spirit world', and even doors for specific people such as Iruka and that Sakura girl that Naruto kept mentioning. He was slightly tempted to access the door with his name on it but decided against it. The blond would probably kill him if he found out. Besides, he wasn't here to dig into Naruto's memories, as tempting as it was.

He walked further and further until he finally came to the end of the hallway which opened up into a large chamber. There was Naruto, laying on the ground floor as he should have been, but what Sasuke was looking for was behind the shield in front of Naruto. It looked to be like what humans called a force field that covered the whole room from floor to cieling. All along the edges were sealing cards that were obviously keeping the wall intact and there behind the wall was a spirit.

He was a tall humanoid spirit with fox ears and long waist length red hair. He was slim and sat gracefully on the floor and studied him right back with amber eyes. He was dressed in a white tunic and pants with a gold obi belt that matched the gold embroidery on the tunic's edges and behind him were nine fluffy fox tails.

Sasuke breathed heavily. "Kyuubi, I presume."

The man raised a delicate eyebrow. "Well, well, an Uchiha. It's been quite awhile since I've met your kind. I had a feeling you'd find your way in here sometime."

Sasuke walked up to Naruto and checked on him. Kyuubi smiled a little. "Don't worry, he's quite all right. Not used to having someone delve into his mind like this. He'll be up and about and loud as ever in a minute or two."

"What are you doing here?"

"It's a rather long and boring tale. But suffice to say, I got banished to the human world."

"How?"

"I'm still not sure. But I've been wandering the human world, invisible to all of the pitiful creatures for the last century or so. It's been quite annoying, let me assure you."

Sasuke frowned. "That still doesn't explain how you're inside Naruto."

"Well, that was just luck on my part. I happened to be wandering about Japan when I happened upon a couple who were with child. I sensed that the baby boy within them had great spiritual power, quite rare in humans nowadays. So I managed to sneak myself inside him before he was born. I had hoped that if he grew up, grew old, and then died I would be released back into the spirit world when he did."

"What if that didn't work?"

Kyuubi shrugged. "Well I figured I had nothing to lose, it was just a few more decades, and at least I had his life to keep me entertained. I never imagined he'd wind up getting stuck here though. I've been trying to find a way to unseal myself so I could stay but, unfortunately, I was dumb and made these seals permanent until his death."

"So you've been in him all these years, and he's had no idea?" Sasuke asked in disbelief.

Kyuubi preened. "My seals are excellent. I didn't want to burden him further with my presence so I've kept quiet."

"How considerate of you," Sasuke said dryly.

"I thought so." Kyuubi suddenly smirked at him. "You know he's already half in love with you."

Sasuke stared at him and then back down at Naruto. "Don't be ridiculous."

Before Kyuubi could reply Naruto's eyes fluttered open. "Ow….where am I?" Then he slowly sat up and looked around. He glanced at Sasuke in confusion.

"What did you do earlier?" Then he noticed Kyuubi and gaped. "Who's that?"

Kyuubi smiled and Sasuke was surprised to see a look of fondness on the fox spirit's face as he looked at the blond. "We're in your head brat. I'm Kyuubi, it's nice to finally meet you face to face, though I've known you since you were born."

Naruto stared. "My….head? What the hell?! Who gave you two permission to be in my head?!"

Kyuubi shrugged, "It was rather unavoidable on my part."

Naruto glared at Sasuke who glared back. "It was necessary."

"Necessary?! Necessary my ass! Get out! How are you even in here?"

"It's a Dragon spirit ability, Naruto," Kyuubi explained.

The blond stared at him. "How the hell do you know my name?"

"I've been inside of you since you were born, I would hope I know your name by now."

"WHAT?!"Naruto sputtered, looking from Kyuubi to Sasuke in frustration and confusion.

Kyuubi sighed. "This is not going well…Uchiha, get out. I'll explain things to the brat."

Sasuke started to argue but seeing Naruto fuming and noticing Kyuubi's glare he decided against it and activated his Sharingun again. A few minutes later he was back in Tsunade's office, still holding Naruto's chin. Naruto's eyes blinked and Sasuke backed away as he woke up. For a minute they stared at each other, until Naruto then glared fiercely at him. Then the blond suddenly punched him hard enough to send him reeling back into Tsunade's desk.

"That's for entering my head without permission, asshole," Naruto snarled and then stomped out of the office. The others watched him leave and glanced at Sasuke who stared after him in slight surprise, holding up a hand to his bloody nose.

"Well," Kakashi said blandly. "That went well."

TO BE CONTINUED…

AUTHOR NOTES: Please review and once again, sorry for the massive delay.


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